2007 Awards

2007 Iolanthe Midwifery Trust Awards

The 2007 Iolanthe Midwifery Trust Awards Ceremony was held on Thursday 29th November at the Sir James Spence Institute in the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Speakers during the evening included midwife Lesley Gilchrist who reported on the Delivering Best Practice project, also funded by the Trust and completed earlier in the year. You can see an abstract of the study: Does changing the second stage of labour guidelines from time limited to progress-led influence the birth outcome and birth experience for women? by clicking here.

Presentations were made by two of the Trustees Helen Cheyne and Ruth Deery.

Dr Billie Hunter read a message from the Trust patron, Baroness Cumberlege, who congratulated the winners and commended the work of the Trust in supporting excellence in midwifery care.

Many of the award winners reported back to the trustees with comments on the positive aspects of the experience they gained, which included:

“I learnt a huge amount from this experience … I feel more confident, more aware and - most importantly - more inspired to be a good midwife.” Zoe Rawlence, student award winner

“The financial support from the Iolanthe Trust enabled me to complete my BSc in Women’s Health and I was absolutely delighted to be awarded first class honours. This enabled my practice to become more analytical, insightful, reflective and evidence based” Wendy Morris, midwife award winner

“This experience has contributed to my development in many ways … It has given me a new confidence in the role of the midwife and shown me that when midwifery skills are practised to their full THE BENEFITS TO WOMEN ARE ENORMOUS.” Amira Gamal Abuseif, student award winner

Picture shows l to r: Lynn Jones, Lisa Common, Eleanor Hamlin, Anne Green, Helen Cheyne (trustee), Fiona Cross-Sudworth, Billie Hunter (trust chair), Wendy Morris, Christine Birrell, Evelyn Davey.

IOLANTHE MIDWIVES’ AWARDS were gained by:

IOLANTHE STUDENT AWARDS, for elective placements or visits, went to:

Christine Birrell, for an MSc in Counselling, University of Edinburgh

Fiona Cross-Sudworth, Master’s degree in Women’s Health, University of Central England, Birmingham

Evelyn Davey, International Association of Infant Massage, instructor course at St Thomas’ Hospital, London

Tiina Korhonen, BSc in Public Health, University of the West of England

Wendy Morris, BSc in Women’s Health, focusing on domestic violence, at Oxford Brookes University

Denise Oxnard, Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling, Garnethill Centre, Glasgow

Joanna Raven, data collection for PhD study into quality of maternal health care in rural China, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Elizabeth Shenton, MBA, Keele University

Jean Walker, DMedSci on the effect of female genital mutialtion/cutting on women, at the University of Sheffield

·

Amira Gamal Abuseif, Napier University, to study at Torbay Maternity Unit, South Devon

Lisa Common, University of Nottingham, placement in Lusaka, Zambia, to work with an HIV/AIDS charity called SAPEP (Simalelo AIDS Peer Education Project)

Anne Green, Liverpool John Moores University, study trip to Coimbatore, South India, with visits to maternity departments in both a private and a government hospital

Eleanor Hamlin, University of Glamorgan, study trip to Rhode Island, USA, to observe midwifery practice in a clinic and at the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center

Lynn Jones, University of Glamorgan, study trip to Hwassa and Dilla in Ethiopia, via the Ethiopia-Gwent Link, to observe practice at three health centres

Julianne Nelson, Bournemouth University, Infant Massage Teacher Training course

Zoe Rawlence, Plymouth University, student placement at Cantabria University and Hospital Valdelcilla, Santander, Spain

Tessa Snelgar, King’s College London, placement in Pumwani Hospital and school of midwifery, Nairobi, Kenya, and observation of community services

Two special commemorative awards, which provide additional funding to selected winners, were presented as follows:

the Ann Stewart Award went to Anne Green for an elective placement in South India. The Ann Steward award is made to the applicant who reflects the greatest commitment to midwifery practice. The Trustees were particularly impressed with the efforts and connections that she had made in order to make her elective possible.

She said " It was an incredible experience, one I will never forget and I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to visit. It was fascinating to experience another culture and especially how that culture relates to childbirth. Traditions, beliefs and values are very strong among the Indian population and I was delighted to be a part of that for a short time. There are similarities to childbirth in the western society; babies are still born the same, of course, but there are interesting differences too; no birth partners allowed in the labour room, only hospital personnel, and no community based postnatal care to name a few. The government hospital I attended was quite a shock to the system, I had researched before my visit but was still not prepared for what I saw. It was overcrowded, dark and dingy and the building very much in need of repair. There were over 100 women on the postnatal ward, and clearly there were not enough beds, about 30 women were lying on the floor with their babies beside them. They were not keen for me to take photos or ask too many questions, certainly would not allow me to have any hospital statistics or stay for too long. I was not allowed to witness any births or examinations unfortunately. I can only draw my own conclusions as to why that may be, perhaps the fear of media attention. I was very grateful for them allowing me to walk round the midwifery wards and delivery rooms, I feel quite privileged to have seen it although upsetting and shocking. I wanted to get a big bus and take all the women to the private hospital.. I feel so incredibly lucky and honoured that I received the grant from the trust, it was such a rewarding and informative visit and I do believe my exposure to these women and the care they received will inform and influence my future midwifery practice. The most important lesson I learnt was how it feels to be the ethnic minority. That will stay with me for a long time and make me appreciate women from other cultures who are in my care.

the Dame Rosalind Paget Award to Evelyn Davey. for an instructor course in Infant Massage at St Thomas' Hospital, London. The Rosalind Paget Award aims to progress practice though holistic care for woman and families

Evelyn said "It's impossible to thank you all enough for the financial support that you've offered to me - it has helped practically and mentally to make things happen for me, and I feel optimistic about moving forward and about what I will be able to offer others."

IOLANTHE MIDWIVES’ AWARDS were gained by:	IOLANTHE STUDENT AWARDS, for elective placements or visits, went to:
Christine Birrell, for an MSc in Counselling, University of Edinburgh Fiona Cross-Sudworth, Master’s degree in Women’s Health, University of Central England, Birmingham Evelyn Davey, International Association of Infant Massage, instructor course at St Thomas’ Hospital, London Tiina Korhonen, BSc in Public Health, University of the West of England Wendy Morris, BSc in Women’s Health, focusing on domestic violence, at Oxford Brookes University Denise Oxnard, Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling, Garnethill Centre, Glasgow Joanna Raven, data collection for PhD study into quality of maternal health care in rural China, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Elizabeth Shenton, MBA, Keele University Jean Walker, DMedSci on the effect of female genital mutialtion/cutting on women, at the University of Sheffield	· Amira Gamal Abuseif, Napier University, to study at Torbay Maternity Unit, South Devon Lisa Common, University of Nottingham, placement in Lusaka, Zambia, to work with an HIV/AIDS charity called SAPEP (Simalelo AIDS Peer Education Project) Anne Green, Liverpool John Moores University, study trip to Coimbatore, South India, with visits to maternity departments in both a private and a government hospital Eleanor Hamlin, University of Glamorgan, study trip to Rhode Island, USA, to observe midwifery practice in a clinic and at the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center Lynn Jones, University of Glamorgan, study trip to Hwassa and Dilla in Ethiopia, via the Ethiopia-Gwent Link, to observe practice at three health centres Julianne Nelson, Bournemouth University, Infant Massage Teacher Training course Zoe Rawlence, Plymouth University, student placement at Cantabria University and Hospital Valdelcilla, Santander, Spain Tessa Snelgar, King’s College London, placement in Pumwani Hospital and school of midwifery, Nairobi, Kenya, and observation of community services

Two special commemorative awards, which provide additional funding to selected winners, were presented as follows: the Ann Stewart Award went to Anne Green for an elective placement in South India. The Ann Steward award is made to the applicant who reflects the greatest commitment to midwifery practice. The Trustees were particularly impressed with the efforts and connections that she had made in order to make her elective possible. She said " It was an incredible experience, one I will never forget and I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to visit. It was fascinating to experience another culture and especially how that culture relates to childbirth. Traditions, beliefs and values are very strong among the Indian population and I was delighted to be a part of that for a short time. There are similarities to childbirth in the western society; babies are still born the same, of course, but there are interesting differences too; no birth partners allowed in the labour room, only hospital personnel, and no community based postnatal care to name a few. The government hospital I attended was quite a shock to the system, I had researched before my visit but was still not prepared for what I saw. It was overcrowded, dark and dingy and the building very much in need of repair. There were over 100 women on the postnatal ward, and clearly there were not enough beds, about 30 women were lying on the floor with their babies beside them. They were not keen for me to take photos or ask too many questions, certainly would not allow me to have any hospital statistics or stay for too long. I was not allowed to witness any births or examinations unfortunately. I can only draw my own conclusions as to why that may be, perhaps the fear of media attention. I was very grateful for them allowing me to walk round the midwifery wards and delivery rooms, I feel quite privileged to have seen it although upsetting and shocking. I wanted to get a big bus and take all the women to the private hospital.. I feel so incredibly lucky and honoured that I received the grant from the trust, it was such a rewarding and informative visit and I do believe my exposure to these women and the care they received will inform and influence my future midwifery practice. The most important lesson I learnt was how it feels to be the ethnic minority. That will stay with me for a long time and make me appreciate women from other cultures who are in my care. the Dame Rosalind Paget Award to Evelyn Davey. for an instructor course in Infant Massage at St Thomas' Hospital, London. The Rosalind Paget Award aims to progress practice though holistic care for woman and families Evelyn said "It's impossible to thank you all enough for the financial support that you've offered to me - it has helped practically and mentally to make things happen for me, and I feel optimistic about moving forward and about what I will be able to offer others."