Midwife having to take ill-health retirement at 45
SARAH SUTTON, 45, a mother of four from Swansea, is a former midwife. She says:
I’VE NOT worked since contracting Covid in April 2020, at the start of the pandemic — I get very breathless on the slightest exertion, even putting on my shoes. And I didn’t do anything other than my job to get into this state.
When I look back to November 2019, I was excited because I’d just landed my dream job as a community midwife — something I’d always wanted, but had delayed my training as I’d been bringing up my children.
After lockdown was announced, when we did home visits, we had to ring patients beforehand and ask if anyone had a temperature or a cough, or if they had been to a Covid-affected area in the past 14 days.
We’d then ask if they could please open a window. But some people wouldn’t because they didn’t want to let cold air in.
The only PPE we had was a surgical mask. You were meant to have one for you and one for anyone with symptoms, but we didn’t even have enough for that.
After one long shift visiting people’s homes, I woke up feeling unwell, but didn’t think I had Covid because I didn’t have a fever or a cough — but on April 1, I had to go to A&E because I was struggling to breathe.
The consultant said it was Covid pneumonia. I was given oxygen and antibiotics and went home to recover.
By mid-June I felt well enough to go back to work, so contacted my boss about a phased return. But within a week I was back in A&E, with pneumonia again. I never really recovered. I’ve had pneumonia four times now. It’s left me with reduced function in one lung.
My biggest issue is I’ve developed rheumatoid arthritis, and get a lot of pain in my hands, feet and hips. My rheumatologist said it’s impossible to say conclusively what triggered my rheumatoid arthritis, but it’s highly probable it was Covid.
I have no way of supporting my family — two of my kids still live at home. They’ve seen me go in and out of hospital and, at one point, thought I wasn’t coming home. We’re relying on benefits, which doesn’t cover the mortgage — so I’ve put our house on the market. I’m also applying for ill-health retirement.