New
Mum Wins Midwifery Award
A Northumbria University midwifery student has won a prestigious award
for her initiatives to support a more natural childbirth experience for
mothers.
Sarah Clarke, 28, received the Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Student
Vision Award, for her presentation on the importance of midwives taking
part in Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) training to reduce
maternal mortality rates.
Third-year-student Sarah, a mother-of-three who lives in North Shields,
is currently on maternity leave after giving birth to six-month-old baby
Oliver last year.
She impressed a panel of three RCM judges last year with her presentation
and collected her award at the seventh annual award ceremony in London.
In her article for the award category Sarah, who describes herself as
a campaigner for normality in childbirth, argued that midwives should
support women to give birth to their babies naturally with minimal intervention.
“Being a mother helps you to empathise with women giving birth,” she said.
“I feel that mothers who experience too many interventions feel a lack
of control. It can be quite scary and emotional. Studies have shown that
once you start intervening, the outcome is worse, both for the mother
and the baby.”
Sarah attended the ceremony with husband Steve and baby Oliver, and was
also supported by Midwifery Studies programme manager Suzanne Crozier
and her community practice mentor from the North Tyneside Trust. She will
receive a £250 award, a glass trophy and an official certificate from
the RCM.
Programme manager Suzanne Crozier said: “Sarah has achieved a great deal
in her time at the School of Health, Community and Education Studies.
She is a mature student who has demonstrated great commitment to the profession
of midwifery and the need to challenge the medicalisation of childbirth.
“In her application to the award, she argued about the importance of midwives
continuously fine-tuning their skills in managing normal childbirth and
gaining new ones by attending the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics
(ALSO) course. “We at Northumbria are delighted about the award and the
programme team in particular are pleased to have been able to support
Sarah and the contribution she will make to the next generation of the
midwifery profession.”
The RCM’s General Secretary Cathy Warwick said: “The judges loved the
enthusiasm, commitment and passion to the profession shown by Sarah’s
project. She is the next generation of the midwifery profession and our
future. We want to nurture and encourage our next generation of leaders.”
Professor Warwick added: “The RCM Midwifery awards have proved to be an
immensely popular event and are now firmly embedded in the calendar as
one of the highlights of the midwifery year.”
Well done, Sarah, your friends at babyworld are very proud of you!
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