We sat down with one of our highly experienced associates, Alison Perry to find out more about her profession, and what celebrating International Day of the Midwife means to her.
Hi Alison, how long have you been a midwife for?
“I have been a midwife now for almost 21 years! In that time, I have had a wide range of midwifery experience including caring for women in their homes at homebirths, in birth centres, and on busy labour wards. For several years, in London, I used by bicycle to do all my home visits and, also head out at night to attend the women in my caseload. Now I work in women’s health clinical research, and I manage a busy clinical research centre for women’s health as the Lead Research Midwife. Research makes a strong compliment to clinical care. Clinical research allows you to be directly part of improvements in women’s health and see change happen through the research process. This year I start my doctorate and can’t wait to get going!”
Why did you become a midwife?
“I became a midwife because I wanted to contribute to women’s health and childbirth rights/choices and gain a skill that was practical and useful globally. I moved from Canada to the United Kingdom to learn within one of the most robust systems of professional midwifery in the world. Along the way I have had fantastic midwifery opportunities in other countries, including Uganda, Togo, Chad, Liberia, United Arab Emirates, and India with organisations including the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Royal College of Midwives. I currently run a small global twinning programme with colleagues in Uganda. This has been some of my best work as a midwife and continues to be hugely rewarding.”
What do you love most about your job?
“It is said that the health of women is fundamental to the health of society. What I love most about being a midwife is the many varied ways in which midwives can contribute to improvements in health and wellbeing. This includes enabling the empowerment of women at the time of childbirth to the smaller quiet moments of taking time to listen and talk to women about choices or concerns. Pregnancy and childbirth are big times of transition in the lives of women, birthing people, and their families. I think there’s a deeply felt awareness among midwives, that in helping to get these moments right, the ripple effect can be profound across the lives of many.”
Do you think there’s anything that needs to change within the profession?
“Yes, of course there’s much that needs to change within midwifery. I’m a workplace representative of the Royal College of Midwives and this time for midwives and our NHS colleagues seems a time of widespread reckoning for how we value health overall and address equity within the healthcare professions. It has never been sustainable for the midwifery profession to be built upon goodwill and sympathy of individual midwives stretched across endless tasks. This takes the midwife away from the places she/he is needed most. Scrimping on healthcare creates a false economy and is short-sighted. Basic issues such as fair pay for midwives are investments in our health as a society. Respectful midwifery care is a current global topic and respect from within and without the profession is surely a key starting point to secure the future strength of midwifery everywhere.”
As a midwife, what does your role as an TG Associate entail?
“My role as a midwifery expert witness involves consideration of midwifery practice on a case-by-case basis and contextualising midwifery care within the ordinary midwifery practice and standards of the time. In our current professional context of risk and litigation, this is an additional and satisfying way to share my midwifery knowledge and experience and to contribute to challenges experienced both by people receiving midwifery care, and midwives working within the NHS.”
From all your lived experience, what would you say to someone now, who was looking to become a midwife?
“Do it!”
You can find out more about Alison and our other highly experienced associates by heading to our associates page or click here.
