Gill used to be a secretary

I am employed by the West Suffolk Hospital as a team midwife providing 24 hour care for women both in the community and the hospital.

Over the years I have been in the job the role has developed very much, and we have now assumed many of the roles that were previously only carried out by a doctor.

Being a midwife is about much more than delivering babies. Gill Leslie

We regularly deliver babies, in some cases using forceps or ventouse, induce labour, stitch up wounds following labour, and put up intravenous lines.

Some midwives can also perform amniocentesis and ultrasonography, and some independent midwifes will even deliver babies by breech at home with no doctor in attendance.

When a problem is identified we will turn to a doctor, but even then we very much work as a team to provide the best possible outcome.

But being a midwife is about much more than delivering babies. We are also on hand to provide women with help, advice and support, and to ensure wherever possible they can make informed choices about their pregnancy and labour.

In the community a midwife will run ante-natal clinics (normally only done in hospital for the high risk cases who need to see the consultant), post natal support and screening tests.

We also run parent education sessions including fathers, breast feeding workshops, smoking cessation groups and homebirth support groups.

Raised blood pressure in pregnancy, foetal growth estimation and confirming breech presentations are the most common, all of which require referral to the hospital assessment unit.

And we do urine testing in pregnancy and blood pressure recordings to exclude a condition called pre-eclampsia - this is a common condition which causes high blood pressure and can put the mother's life at risk.

This is antenatal and postnatal care and it involves giving reassurance that the infant is well.

Mothers are emotionally connected to their babies from conception and the midwife will ensure that she listens to the mother and deals with concerns to build confidence.

Tiredness. The shift system can be very challenging.

It can be very difficult to switch off. My family and especially my husband are very supportive of my job.

But sometimes it feels like I am never away from work. Thank goodness we go away for regular holidays.

I could say it was delivering this or that baby as they have all been satisfying.

But it was when I was working with a really challenging family who also had a daughter, aged about seven.

Midwife care continues to 28 days

I spent a lot of time with her. She was in school with my son and she also heard one of my school talks about being a midwife.

She then became, against the odds a health professional, and said I had been her inspiration.

Also one of the midwives in our team became one after listening to one of my school talks.

I was a secretary and needed a career change. I always enjoyed meeting and listening to people. I had an interest in nursing but not necessarily with sick people.

My mother told me a fascinating story of a midwife and her family and what her job involved.

I wrote a letter to the local hospital for relevant courses. I applied and have never looked back.

No I would not. Midwifery gives me such job satisfaction.

It is a privilege to be part of peoples lives. The birth of a baby still amazes me.

Working closely with people enables me to reflect on my life, it has increased my self awareness. I have learnt so much from all the families I have had contact with. My midwifery colleagues are a wonderful group of people.

At this stage of my life I would say I would want to do something different, perhaps drama. I belong to an amateur dramatic group.

But in the medical field, the study of psychology and social history also hold an interest for me.

Since I qualified over 30 years ago I have seen the role of the midwife develop enormously.

We have a fundamental role in care provision for pregnant women and their families.

Ideally it is intended to give women greater choices, provide one to one midwifery care in an appropriate setting with quality care given by midwives.

But, sadly with cost cutting exercises I fear midwives may become 'obstetric nurses' as in the US, only working in the delivery unit.

This will not benefit the women at all.

It is encouraging that midwives are making themselves heard on behalf of the women - for example, we have campaigned for less intervention, and more natural birth.

After all most midwives are women too, some of whom are also mothers.