RCM honours its ‘Midwives’ Midwife’ of the Year with national award

By RCM honours its ‘Midwives’ Midwife’ of the Year with national award on 05 May 2020 Midwives RCM RCM Member Midwifery RCM Annual Midwifery Awards Awards Women Maternity Services Pregnancy Leadership Safe high quality care

A midwife from St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals has become the first ever recipient of the new Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Award ‘NMC Midwives’ Midwife of the Year as they award outstanding members at their virtual Annual Midwifery Awards for 2020.

Midwife Jennifer O’ Neill who works at Whiston Hospital maternity unit was nominated for her clinical expertise, excellent leadership skills and outstanding support for her colleagues. Jennifer’s also has a passion for supporting women who are experiencing high dependency care during their maternity journeys.

Her colleagues who nominated her for this award described Jennifer’s biggest attribute as her ‘no nonsense stance as a woman's advocate’.

Commenting, Kathryn Gutteridge RCM’s President said: “Jennifer is a midwife working to the full competence of her registration and its clear she is respected and loved not only by her close midwife colleagues, but by the wider multidisciplinary maternity team. Her enthusiasm for supporting women by putting them at the centre of their own care is evident is all she does.

“I wish to congratulate Jennifer and thank her for all she does for colleagues and for women and their babies. It’s such an honour for me to name Jennifer O’ Neill as the first winner of the RCM’s Midwives’ Midwife of the Year Award.”

 

Andrea Sutcliffe CBE, Chief Executive and Registrar for the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), said, “It is an honour to sponsor the Midwives Midwife of the Year award and we would like to send our congratulations to Jennifer for a very deserved win! Her clinical expertise is clearly recognised by those she works with; as well as her love for her job and drive to ensure the best and safest care possible for all.

“We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to her, and all her midwifery colleagues, for their tireless hard work in supporting mothers, babies and their families - especially in these challenging times.”

 

ENDS

 

Contact: RCM media relations team on 020 7312 3456 or [email protected]

 

Notes to Editors:

 

This is a brand-new award category for the RCM and the winner is chosen by the RCM’s President. The award has been devised to honour an unsung midwifery champion who is nominated by their peers because of their outstanding commitment to women, to the profession and to the maternity services.

 

The RCMs Annual Midwifery Awards ceremony for 2020 was due to take place London on May 5 has now been cancelled following the Government lockdown extension as a result the Covid-19 pandemic. The RCM will be announcing details of all the winners from May 4 across the course of the week.

 

More details on the RCMs Annual Midwifery Awards are available here: https://www.rcmawards.com/