Kent midwife receives national midwifery honour
on 14 June 2019 RCM Fellowship Waterbirth
A midwife from West Kingsdown has received a national award from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) for her contribution to midwifery.
Dianne Garland a midwife who now runs her own midwifery consultancy company has received a prestigious RCM Fellowship. This is an honour given to just a handful of midwives each year.
The Fellowship recognises Dianne’s contributions in many areas. It particularly focuses on her pioneering work in research, clinical practice and education around water birth. Once this was a novel practice but now a water birth is a real and available choice for women across the UK.
Dianne qualified as a midwife in 1983 and began working at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in London. She has worked as a midwife for over 40 years in – in clinical posts; first as a practice development midwife in Kent and she also became a Supervisor of midwives in 1993. In 2005 Dianne started MidwifeExpert.com her Kent based midwifery consultancy company.
Through MidwifeExpert Dianne lectures and does consulting work internationally. She is an advisor to Wenzhou Oriental Maternity Unit in China and works with Water birth International in the USA. She is also advisor to Wellness Mother and Baby in India among many other professional activities. The fourth edition of her book 'Revisiting water birth - an attitude to care' was published in 2017.
Dianne said: "I am very honoured to accept the Fellow of RCM award. I have been supporting women who wish to use water since 1986 and travelled the world to assist mothers having the opportunity for this quiet calm birth choice.”
Kathryn Gutteridge, President of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “The Royal College of Midwives is delighted to award this Fellowship to Dianne. Her pioneering work around waterbirth has been an inspiration to midwives. She continues to have an enormous influence not just in the UK but globally. She is a worthy recipient of this Fellowship and I congratulate her heartily on this achievement.”
For more information on the RCM Fellowships see https://www.rcm.org.uk/influencing/honorary-fellows/.
Note to editors
The RCM is the only trade union and professional association dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team. We provide workplace advice and support, professional and clinical guidance and information, and learning opportunities with our broad range of events, conferences and online resources. For more information visit the RCM website at https://www.rcm.org.uk/.
ENDS