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Midwife who helped deliver 3,000 babies retires

Laura Devlin
News imageDiane Hele A colour photograph, possibly from the 1980s, of a woman smiling down at a baby she is holding in her arms. She is wearing a dark blue midwife's tunic and has short very curly blonde hair. The baby has dark hair and its eyes are open.Diane Hele
Diane Hele said she was always amazed by the beauty of newborns

A midwife retiring after 52 years in the NHS said it had been "major privilege" to deliver more than 3,000 babies.

Diane Hele, 69, started out as a trainee nurse at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds as a teenager and remained there for her entire career, qualifying as a midwife in January 1980.

She has helped bring life into the world for generations of families - delivering first-borns, siblings, and then their children and grandchildren.

"Lots of births I can remember very clearly, and many of the children I see around," said Mrs Hele.

"I've always lived in Bury so I've seen my babies grow up and have babies themselves."

News imageIsaac Chenery/BBC A head and shoulders image of three people pictured in a radio studio. A woman with grey short hair and glasses, and wearing a dark grey and white striped top, is seated, with a three-year-old boy on her lap. He has red hair and is wearing a blue, red, black and and white striped fleece. The tip of his right index finger is in his mouth. Crouching to his level, to his right, is a woman with long red hair, dressed all in blue. All three are looking at the camera. Isaac Chenery/BBC
Diane Hele (right) delivered her niece Kelly's children, including three-year-old Luke

She says she has seen many changes in the NHS - with a shift to woman-centred care, and first-time mothers now being discharged within hours of giving birth, not five days.

In 2024, she won the hospital's Midwife of the Year award for being a "true icon in the field of midwifery", in the same year she was honoured for half a century of service.

"It's never been a job, it's a vocation; every mother's experience is different, every labour is different," said Mrs Hele.

Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk presenter Wayne Bavin, mum-of-three Lauren Robbins said her family were "very, very lucky" to have a connection with Mrs Hele.

The midwife delivered her brother and his child, and all three of her children - two of them on Christmas Eve.

"Your retirement will be a massive loss to West Suffolk Hospital because you're just fabulous," she told Mrs Hele.

News imageDiane Hele A colour photo from the 1970s of a woman standing in a white or very pale grey nurses' uniform, with a thick red elastic belt around her waist and a white box-like hat perched on top of her head. Her blonde hair is cut in a bob. She is smiling, and is outside, next to the pale green door of a house, which has a white net curtain hanging on the inside.Diane Hele
Diane Hele was 18 when she trained as a general nurse

During the live interview, her niece Kelly and three-year-old son Luke appeared in the BBC Radio Suffolk studio as a surprise.

"Diane was there for the birth of all three of my children, and has been a vital part of me bringing them up," said Kelly.

"It takes a village [to raise a child] and Diane is certainly part of mine.

"Without her unwavering support and professionalism it could have gone very differently."

Her final delivery, on 22 October, was the fourth grandchild of her friend and former colleague, Tracey Langley, who described her as "fantastic" to work with.

Mrs Hele had delivered all three of her other grandchildren, too.

Reflecting on her retirement, Mrs Hele said she could not believe her career had come to an end.

"It has been my life, and something that's been amazing," she said.

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