Late midwife’s NHS honour
RECOGNISED POSTHUMOUSLY FOR 55 YEARS OF SERVICE
A NEWCASTLE midwife has posthumously received one of the NHS’S highest honours in recognition of 55 years service.
Jennifer Mcdermott – who died aged 73 at the very beginning of the pandemic after a short battle with cancer – has been awarded the Chief Midwifery Officer’s Gold Medal for her “exceptional contribution” to the profession and being a “truly exceptional role model”.
Jennifer’s daughter Terry received the medal from England’s top midwife Prof Jacqueline Dunkley-bent this week.
Her mum had been nominated for the gong by colleagues in a nomination which highlights how she was a “strident, forthright midwife”.
The nomination added: “Prior to retiring in 2017 after 55 years of service at the age of 73, she was at one point the oldest serving Supervisor of Midwives, and the oldest registered practising midwife in England.
“Jennifer was dedicated to midwifery all her life and we cannot put into words how much she meant to us all.”
Jane Anderson, the associate director
for midwifery at the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I know from speaking to colleagues who knew her well, and reading her wonderful nomination, that she absolutely deserves this Gold Medal without reservation.
“Jennifer was clearly an inspiration
to all who met and worked with her, and I am delighted that her dedication and enduring influence on how we provide outstanding care for our mums and babies here in Newcastle today is being recognised in this way.”
Prof Dunkley-bent added: “This amazing citation brought tears to my eyes when I read it and I don’t want to take anything away from that or the sacrifices that Jennifer made.
“You know when you get that call to become a midwife that your 12 hour shifts can extend into 17 hour ones when someone is birthing.
“You do give yourself so much to the role and I’m sure Jennifer did too. This gold award is for lifetime achievement above and beyond the call of duty and it is a first.
“I’d like to thank Terry and the family for ‘loaning’ Jennifer to maternity and midwifery over many years and I’m honoured to make this presentation.”
Jennifer had begun her nursing training in 1962 – qualifying as a midwife in 1968. She worked in England for a time before travelling to South Africa. She returned to England in the 1970s to work at Newcastle General as a maternity Sister, before moving to the Royal Victoria Infirmary when the maternity units merged.
Hospital bosses paid tribute to her as “both a force to be reckoned with, yet consummately kind in equal measure”, and said she was known for “going above and beyond for her most vulnerable patients”.
Matron Paula Taylor added: “Jennifer had a wisdom that came from years of experience and practice, she was one of a kind an exceptional woman and an exceptional midwife.
“A midwifery era ended when Jennifer retired, she was the last of her generation of midwives.”