Jonathan Cliffe is an integrated community midwife at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, working within a continuity of care team. Jonathan is currently a professional midwifery advocate and chairs the regional PMA network as well as his local Royal College of Midwives union branch. In addition to this, he is an ambassador for the charity Mummy’s Star and for the #PerceptionsOfMidwifery project.
“One of my favourite parts of being a midwifery ambassador is seeing the reaction from school/college students when I am introduced as a midwife, I get all the usual “are you a mid-husband?”/“I didn’t know men could be midwives” comments but then towards the end of sessions, there is a genuine exchange of mutual understanding. The students have recognised gender is not a qualification for a role.”
Being a proud midwife
The last time we spoke, I was a newly qualified midwife about to embark on my career at Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. I spoke about what being a midwife meant to me. I explained that being a midwife means being there for women; supporting, advocating, listening and empowering women during the whole childbirth continuum.
This is still true today; this fundamental midwifery ethos never changes. Despite systems and services changing over time, despite midwives embarking on many different career pathways; despite policy, government initiatives and changes in evidence. Midwives will always play a vital role within maternity services all over the world.
I told you that midwifery at times can be unpredictable and therefore it would be difficult to describe a typical day or pinpoint a specific part of my role that I enjoy the most as every day brings something new (quite literally). No two births, no two days and no two women are ever the same. Every day is a special day.
This statement remains true, I am now five years into my midwifery career, and I continue to be amazed at the unpredictable, mostly joyous moments midwives have the privilege of witnessing.
Sadly, since we last spoke, I lost a great influencer and encourager in my life: My grandfather. He taught me many lessons in life. Before the passing of my late grandfather, he would always be the first to tell anyone and everyone I was a midwife, no matter the conversation; he would always find a way to sneak my profession into it.
I would imagine, now more than ever, our families and friends are extremely proud of what we do. There are those amongst us who would say “well it’s just my job”. But actually, it’s time we took some pride in what we do ourselves. From the catering staff; continuing to serve our patients their meals, to the nursing staff; tending to the needs of their patents. From the security staff; ensuring we are protected, to the radiology staff; still performing those essential procedures. From the midwifery teams; still bringing new life into the world, to the medical staff; who continue their daily rounds.
The NHS is continuing, because of dedication, kindness and commitment. Every individual has an essential contribution to the service and every NHS employee should be proud.
How to change attitudes towards gender equality
The most recent nursing and midwifery database findings have shown over the last five years there have been only fractional changes in this gender split, within a one per cent swing, NMC [Nursing and Midwifery Council] reports 11% of the register being male. This 11% includes nurses, midwives and nursing associates.
Actually, figures for midwifery can be found in the 2019 database report where only 106 midwives identified themselves as male in comparison to the 36,808 female midwives.
We have to continue to tackle gender stereotypes in every profession. I said this during our last interview but truly believe that if we want to see a change in the way certain professional roles are perceived we have to start at the beginning.
Educating the young of today will surely help bring about change in attitudes to gender equality; ensuring children know that their possibilities are endless in their lives and their careers.
Also a bit of a journo!
It was a great joy when I was asked to join the editorial board of The Practicing Midwife, a midwifery journal that has been in circulation for 40 years.
I have an interest in reflective practice – I think once you have reflected on something, learnt and implemented lessons from your reflection then sharing it for others to read is important. Apart from living and reflecting on our experiences, successes and failures, reading about how others may have overcome or achieved can also aid an individual to reflect. I would encourage anyone to consider writing, or even subscribing to a journal.
Nobody can drag me down
I made the decision not long after qualifying that I wanted to continue with my education. My education background is certainly an interesting one. I left secondary education without formal qualifications and no career aspirations, and I was once told I would never achieve anything.
Therefore, I think that has always been a motivator for me to continue studying. Completing my postgraduate certificate in maternal and reproductive health has taken me longer than I planned but I’ve enjoyed completing it at my own pace, learning new skills and knowledge along the way. My next plans are to continue with my studies to complete my master’s degree.
Impact of COVID-19 on midwifery and nursing
We are currently in challenging times. In recent months we have seen a global pandemic change the way midwives and maternity services are deployed. We have seen our NHS colleagues come together, united as one NHS to maintain, preserve and protect the health of the general public.
The impact of the pandemic on the nursing and midwifery workforce has been unprecedented and will be felt for a long time to come. The crisis has also exacerbated longstanding problems faced by nurses and midwives, including inequalities, inadequate working conditions and chronic excessive work pressures.
In the world of midwifery, COVID-19 has forced our midwifery education programmes to adapt to a new way of teaching. COVID-19 has sadly bought us sadness, especially when we hear of our NHS colleagues’, their families and loved ones sadly falling victim to the virus.
The midwifery workforce itself has changed, midwives shielding, some working from home. The delivery of midwifery services has changed with pregnant women going to their scans and appointments alone, birthing partners only being present for established labour.
I’m sure all professions have faced their own issues surrounding the impact of COVID -19 and in the words of Her Majesty the Queen: “better days will come” – we just have to keep reminding ourselves daily.
Being an ambassador for a charity
Mummy’s Star is the only charity in the UK and Ireland dedicated to women and their families when the mother has diagnosed with cancer during pregnancy shortly or after birth. Our aim is to support pregnancy through cancer and beyond. I have been a keen supported since my student midwife days.
Mummy’s Star was founded in memory of Mair Wallroth, who passed away at the age of 41, two months after the birth of her second child in December 2012.
The charity provides a ‘one-stop-shop’ for advice on cancer diagnosis in pregnancy including links to localised services. The charity provides advocacy on behalf of families, including support at hospital appointments, benefit entitlements, working with other organisations to draw in additional support, and employment rights advice.
Mummy’s star issues emergency small grants for families which could be for anything which is deemed as supporting the family. For example, paying for a support carer/nanny to help in the house, payment to make up for unpaid leave taken by a partner to support at home above and beyond the allowances of paternity and travel costs. In addition to face to face support from the charity, Mummy’s Star facilitates peer support via administrated internet forums for affected women.
As a Mummy’s Star ambassador, I regularly use my social media presence to share to amazing work the charity does. Over the past few years, I have skydived for Mummy’s Star, hosted awareness events within my local trust and at every interview opportunity such as this, I am always keen to share the wonderful work of Mummy’s Star.
Raising the profile of midwifery
England’s chief midwifery officer,Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent established the #PerceptionsOfMidwifery project as a key priority. The role of a midwifery ambassador for the project is to promote midwifery as a career of choice for young people; enhance current midwives’ pride in the profession; influence media representation of the profession; and promote the view of midwifery amongst the public as a highly trusted and clinically expert profession.
I also work closely with local and national schools and colleges to raise the profile of midwifery, challenging the perceptions midwifery and promote midwifery as a career option. This workstream is an example of how we can tackle the perception of a specific workforce.
One of my favourite parts of being a midwifery ambassador is seeing the reaction from school/college students when I am introduced as a midwife, I get all the usual “are you a mid-husband?”/“I didn’t know men could be midwives” comments but then towards the end of sessions, there is a genuine exchange of mutual understanding. The students have recognised gender is not a qualification for a role and I leave the session knowing one more group of young people have had their perception challenged and changed.
Focus on the present
I hear all the time about five-year plans, people asking what is next. If I have learnt anything during this global pandemic, it is to be thankful for the present. I am extremely happy and content with my job as a midwife. That is my advice to anyone in life, both personally and professionally we are met with challenges, opportunities, trials and triumphs. Reflecting on each one of these events sets our course for the next.
I do have some exciting plans ahead; I am purchasing my first house and have a wedding date set.
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