A huge thanks to Wales’ midwives

Chief Nursing Officer Sue Tranka marks International Day of the Midwife

I AM incredibly proud and appreciative of everyone who makes up the midwifery workforce in Wales. They make a huge difference to the care and experiences of women, birthing people and their families, showing compassion in the most challenging and pressurised circumstances. Over the past month I have been presenting CNO excellence awards to recognise and reward those who make a real difference. The awards are an opportunity to celebrate the NHS Wales nursing and midwifery workforce and those who go above and beyond their everyday roles to provide excellent care, leadership and inspiration. This year the awards mainly focused on efforts to advance equality, diversity and inclusion. I was delighted that earlier this week Karen Jewell, Chief Midwifery Officer for Wales, presented the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for Wales and the Royal College of Midwives Wales (RCM) Quality Improvement Award for 2024 to a team of midwives and obstetricians from Hywel Dda University Health Board. They have been recognised for their work in tackling inequalities and improving maternity care for pregnant women with learning disabilities and difficulties with everyday activities. We congratulate them on their team working and co-production with families. A CNO excellence award was also presented to midwife Gina Davies for her excellent work in instigating workshops within maternity settings to optimise maternal positioning for difficult births, utilising the theory of biomechanics in labour. Karen also attended a celebration event at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board to present another CNO award to another midwife. Wendy Ansell is a member of the health inclusion team specialising in supporting survivors of female genital mutilation and women seeking sanctuary. She works with great effort and energy to develop innovative approaches which ensure advocacy for women’s health and rights, making her an exemplary candidate for this award. We are committed to supporting our workforce to deliver the best care possible for women and families across Wales. Work is under way to deliver the Maternity and Neonatal Safety Support Programme to ensure a clear and consistent approach to safety and effectiveness across all health boards. It is thanks to the sterling work of the entire multidisciplinary team including midwives that the Health secretary was recently able to announce the de-escalation of the maternity and neonatal services in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board area. This change reflected the hard work of staff at all levels to deliver improvements and ensure that lessons from the past helped shape the quality of the services provided within the health board as well as across Wales. As we mark International Day of the Midwife, it is important to remember the dedicated workforce who work tirelessly to ensure every child is given the best start in life. Every day, midwives, nurses and health care support workers conduct themselves with professionalism, kindness, and compassion in the most trying of circumstances. For that I want to say thank you.