Community Midwifery
By Dee Smith, Community Matron, Continuity of Carer and Home Birth Team (3 teams, 2 Continuity teams , Keller + Noor + Home Birth Team)
What was your experience of the pandemic?
Altering practices to care for and accommodate women and their families during very ever changing challenging times whilst maintaining high standards and best practice.
What was the hardest part?
Many changes implemented all at once. Community Midwives working in the community setting and visiting patient’s home whilst feeling at times so vulnerable and covering a service with reduced staffing levels due to sickness.
How did you cope?
Communication, presence, a big smile and an open ear.
What did you learn?
Community can adapt when and how needed to deliver services.
How do you think it changed the team?
Relationships were strengthened as resources were pulled and the individual teams were required to support each another. As a result improved working relationships have formed.
Beyond your team, who has inspired you during the pandemic?
My Line Manager. Always so approachable, informative kind and considerate.
Celebrating BWC Spirit
We are highlighting the amazing things our colleagues have done and achieved during the pandemic.
Our teams have bravely stood by the side of our patients, changed how they have worked to keep key and emergency services running and gone beyond the Trust to help colleagues in other parts of the NHS.
They have done so with an approach and spirit that is uniquely BWC and we want to celebrate that and what has been achieved.
From frontline clinical colleagues to our unseen and often unsung heroes in labs, offices and in our corridors - everyone has had a part to play and we’re sharing some of their stories over the next two weeks.
If you would like to thank individuals or teams either by sharing some kind words, pictures or a short video we would love to see them. You can submit your messages, pictures or videos by emailing bwc.communications@nhs.net