Midwife who qualifed at Burnley General Hospital 45 years ago ready to wish NHS 'Happy 75th Birthday'

Those are the sentiments of Sheena Byrom, who qualified as a midwife in 1978 at Burnley General Hospital, as the NHS prepares to celebrates its 75th birthday this week. Her knowledge, love and passion awarded her an OBE and produced a best-selling book ‘Catching Babies.’

Sheena continues to inspire midwives everywhere alongside her midwife daughter Anna – and her goddaughter Jessica Acker, Burnley Birth Centre Manager and Team Leader at Lancashire Women’s and Newborn Centre.

Sheena said: “The best thing about being a midwife is the privileged position we’re in to serve women and families through one of the most important times of their lives. And although I don’t essentially ‘catch babies’ anymore I still support midwives through presenting, writing, podcasting and facilitating workshops.

“I worked in Burnley and Blackburn all my NHS career which included nine years at Bramley Meade, a maternity home in Whalley. That was a catalytic time for me as it taught me to be a midwife in the deepest sense of the word.

“I was one of the UK’s first consultant midwives and I ended my career as the Head of Midwifery before taking early retirement in 2010.

““Anna worked alongside me for a while as an infant feeding co-ordinator and it was a different experience being her manager as well as her mum.

“Now Anna is leading our very own organisation – All4Maternity, which aims to support and nurture midwives and students. My niece Aimee is now training to become a midwife at East Lancashire Hospitals.”