4 May 2021

Every year on 5 May the world comes together to celebrate International Day of the Midwife (IDM) and to acknowledge the critical role midwives fulfil.

A husband and wife from Dawley Bank have chosen IDM to publically thank their midwives at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs maternity services for women in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and mid-Wales, and to share their experience of the care they received when their baby, Jacob, arrived into the world entirely unexpectedly last month.

Richard Bennett said: “My wife, Jo, and I were busy playing along our usual Thursday night online quiz when Jo started getting stomach pains which got progressively worse. After a couple of hours, and with Jo now in constant pain, we attended A&E. A short time later we were told that the stomach pains were in fact contractions and that Jo was in labour. 16 hours later she gave birth to our son, Jacob at a weight of 9lb.

“Our world has been flipped upside down. We didn’t have a clue we were expecting and this is our first child. It has been a massive, but amazing, shock to the system and indeed to our entire lives.

“Throughout our time at SaTH, we were struck by how amazing the staff were. Sarah, the Health Care Assistant in A&E, stayed with Jo until I got there and remained with us until we were transferred to the Delivery Suite. She was truly wonderful, so caring and had all the time in the world to help us.

“On International Day of the Midwife, we also want to say a massive thank you to the two midwives who helped to bring Jacob into the world. Olivia, who was with us for the first few hours of Jo’s labour, was so comforting and relaxing and she returned the following evening to look after us for another 12 hour shift. Zen, who was with us when Jacob was born, was at our side every step of the way. Whatever we needed she went above and beyond to sort it. She explained everything that was going on and answered every question we had, which was a lot seeing as we have no idea about pregnancy or having a baby!

“Please, the next time you see an NHS worker, buy them a drink, or at the very least just thank them for all they do. To every midwife and NHS worker out there, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all that you do. Happy International Day of the Midwife.”

Hayley Flavell, Director of Nursing at SaTH, said: “On behalf of the Trust I would like to say congratulations to Richard and Jo on the safe arrival of their son, Jacob.

“Giving birth is a life-changing moment for any parent, but never more-so than when facing a global pandemic. Throughout this time of great uncertainty, our midwives have provided compassionate and invaluable care. Thank you to each and every one of them and Happy International Day of the Midwife.”