A (Christmas) Day In The Life

The festive period is a special time for both our patients and our colleagues and can be an especially important day for those in our maternity ward.

Hannah Durodie is a Midwife in our Birmingham Women's Hospital Delivery Suite and has been at the hospital for over eight years. In that time, she has worked four Christmas Days, with this year being her fifth. We spoke with her about what it is like working as a Midwife on Christmas Day.

What does a typical Christmas Day on shift consist of?

“Working a Christmas Day shift is no different to any other day on our busy labour ward. Unfortunately, babies do not get the memo about the Christmas holiday break! Everyone is usually in good spirits, often wearing Santa hats, hairbands or Christmas tights. The hope being you will join a family in making Christmas Day extra special this year as they give birth, and the question of who will deliver the first Christmas baby? This is often awarded to a midwife working the Christmas Eve night shift.

“Sometimes Christmas can look a little different as midwifery on our labour ward varies hugely and sometimes, the most privileged role to take on this day may be joining a bereaved family through labour or supporting them postnatally, ensuring Christmas Day is special and memorable in a very different way.”

Does your team have chance to take some time to celebrate?

“The team would love to celebrate together, however, it is tricky for every midwife on shift to be free at the same time for this. The joys of the labour ward are being a place of surprises and the unexpected. Staff bring a big spread of food to share during the shift, and often you can tell how busy the shift has been by how much of the food is left over.”

Will you get time with your family and friends?

“My family and friends are very used to me working over Christmas and so we always arrange an alternative 'Christmas Day' to celebrate. Next year will be different for me as I will have a baby of my own due in 2023 and so that will be the first year Christmas won't be worked out around my shift pattern since I first qualified as a nurse in 2012.”

What’s your favourite thing about working over the festive period?

“My favourite thing about working on Christmas Day is spending it with my wonderful friends and colleagues, who are like an extended family to me.”

Mariama Abdulai, Senior Mental Health Practitioner in our Crisis and Home Treatment Team at Forward Thinking Birmingham, our 0-25s Mental Health Service, talks to us about what it is like working in our Mental Health Services during the festive period.

Mariama has worked in Urgent Care since September 2019 and was nominated for our Star of the Month award this year for “going above and beyond in every one of her shifts.”

We spoke to Mariama about what it is like working over Christmas in the Crisis and Home Treatment Team, and how they support young people over the festive period:

How many Christmas Days have you worked?

“This year will be my second Christmas working since joining FTB Urgent Care.”

What does a typical Christmas Day on shift consist of?

“We start the shift by having our morning hurdle, meeting to discuss patients allocated for the day and immediate risk patient that need urgent response. This could be a patient in custody, Place of safety, PDU or in the community. We may also respond to patients that have presented during the night and may need immediate intervention.

“We also receive calls from service users who struggle to come to terms with Christmas celebration due to significant anniversaries on the day or approaching just after Christmas.  This period can be a difficult time for the individual, and our role is to be available for them by actively listening and offering emotional support and a crisis plan. In some cases, we may respond by going out to see them.

“We also speak with many students who have decided not to return home for Christmas due to various reasons. We do what we can to offer additional support during the festive period. This may involve a home visit on Christmas day or telephone support. We’ll do the same for all of our clients and for new referrals.”

Does your team have chance to take some time to celebrate?

“Yes, we will be having a Christmas lunch at work, we bring and share!”

Will you get time with your family and friends?

“Yes, our managers recognise the importance of spending time with family during the festive period. We have been given a choice of working early or late to allow us time to spend time with family.”

What’s your favourite thing about working over the festive period?

“Sharing Christmas experiences with service users and my colleagues and supporting young people in need.”

Julie Farr is a Domestic Facilities Assistant at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital. She has been with the Trust for over seven years. and has worked four Christmas days. She talked to us about what it is like to work over Christmas in our Vital Services:

What does a typical Christmas Day on shift consist of?

"In my experience of working on Christmas Day, it’s basically like any other day, the staff and patients tend to have a lot of fun, and there’s usually plenty of food, drinks, and snacks in the staff room."

Does your team have chance to take some time to celebrate?

"Occasionally we do, but our daily duties and task requirements mean that we have very little time to celebrate, we do that when our shift is finished."

Will you get time with your family and friends?

"Yes, I usually celebrate with my family and friends when I get home from my shift." 

How would you sum up being a midwife on Christmas Day?

"The extra satisfaction of being a Facilities Assistant on Christmas Day comes from contributing to society in this way, as our job is to ensure that the hospital is clean and safe. The difference between working on Christmas and any other day is the ambience, the jingles, and everyone in a festive mood."

What’s your favourite thing about working over the festive period?

"The decorations, the Christmas jingles, and Santa visiting the kids are my favourite parts of working on Christmas Day. That makes the kids happy, and I love seeing them happy."

Ching is a staff nurse in our Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and joined the Trust in August. We talked to her about working on PICU during the festive period and her first Christmas shift on the unit:

How many Christmas Days have you worked?

"It is my first Christmas to work here in UK but I have previously worked in Saudi Arabia before."

What does a typical Christmas Day on shift consist of?

"I haven't had the chance to work in a Christmas shift in our hospital so I'm excited to see how it goes."

Does your team have chance to take some time to celebrate?

"I certainly hope so!"

Will you get time with your family and friends?

"I don't have my family here in UK but I will make sure to video call whenever I have the chance to greet them a Merry Christmas. With friends, during the new year, we will have a get-together."

How would you sum up being a nurse on Christmas Day?

"Just a typical shift working to make sure our patients are safe during the festive season and being able to hold their hand and just be there for them."

What’s your favourite thing about working over the festive period?

"Being there for the patients so that they don't feel alone."