I am writing this fueled by emotion as this midwife will always be remembered in our hearts.
I was really fortunate to have a pretty good pregnancy but unfortunately, at 39 weeks, I developed HELLP syndrome, a potentially dangerous condition for mother and baby. This was spotted and acted upon by a fantastic community midwife and we were admitted to the hospital and our little baby boy was delivered that day to treat the syndrome.
This whole situation was so far from our birth plan and if was scary for both myself and my partner but our fears were listened to and comforted by our fantastic hospital midwife, Nicky. When she was assigned to us, we both automatically felt safe and that whatever happened we would be beautifully cared for. Nicky gave me, my partner and our baby equal care, respect, dignity, and compassion. She took the time to look at our birth plan and discuss it with us. She stuck to it wherever possible and really embraced what she could support.
Nicky empowered us to be the leads in the birthing process and communicated superbly in 'our language' and openly with us. She held my hand when needed and comforted me with the same compassion you would expect from a friend. She even captured some really special movements on camera for us. In a few hours we had to come to terms with a potentially scary condition, let go of many of our planned birth wishes and gathered the physical and mental strength to deliver our baby safely. Nicky's presence, nature, and attitude enabled us to do this. I have no doubt Nicky would give every person, family, and situation the superb holistic care and compassion she gave us.
As I write this I am crying (you may think its post-natal hormones) as both my partner and I are so grateful that we had such a fantastic midwife to guide and support us through the most special time of our lives. You're lucky to have such a caring and professional midwife on your team.
Thank you with all our hearts, Nicky.