Lauren Irving, a local midwife from Liverpool, was announced as the National winner of the prestigious Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Annual Midwifery Awards.

Nominated by proud new mum Sarah Critchley, Lauren went above and beyond the call of duty to deliver exceptional care before, during and after the birth of Sarah’s daughter Faith in March 2012.

Lauren’s expertise allowed Sarah to have a wonderful water birth at home as she had planned and hoped for. Lauren visited Sarah every day after the birth to ensure she had the full support needed and could breastfeed properly; meaning Sarah is still breastfeeding four months on. 

I hope these awards will inspire a new generation of midwifery excellence because midwives remain the bedrock of maternity care

Lauren helped Sarah cope well with the pregnancy, labour and the transition into motherhood. After speaking to other mums Sarah realised Lauren went way beyond her duties.

Louise Silverton, Director for Midwifery at the RCM: “Having a baby is one of the most memorable times in a woman’s life and midwives are essential to helping make that experience a positive one, even when things don’t go to plan.

“These awards put midwives in the spotlight to celebrate and thank them for their exceptional work, when often the excitement and joy of a newborn eclipses the magic and skill a midwife brings to the occasion.

"I hope these awards will inspire a new generation of midwifery excellence because midwives remain the bedrock of maternity care.”

The award recognises the incredible work carried out by particularly outstanding midwives across the country. It is the only award that allows mums to nominate midwives who they feel provided exceptional support.

During 2012, nominations were sent to the judging panel by mums across the country, who felt their midwives deserved that extra bit of recognition. The entries were put through a rigorous judging process by the panel of senior RCM midwives and selected colleagues from Johnson & Johnson Limited, who looked at three critical aspects of the nomination.

These were the extent to which the midwife demonstrated best clinical practice, support for mum’s emotional care and support for strengthening the bond between mum and baby.

The six regional winners, who along with Lauren Irving (North West), included Annabel Bryant (London & South East), Brenda Foulkes (Wales), Lynn Shanks (Belfast), Morag Linklater (Scotland) and Pauline Ellaway (South and Midlands), were awarded trophies at the RCM Annual Awards ceremony which was held at top venue, The Brewery in London last Thursday 24 January.

Winners were invited on stage to collect their trophies from compère and presenter Natasha Kaplinsky. The overall national winner, Lauren Irving, was also announced as the Johnson’s Baby Mums’ Midwife of the Year 2013.

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