At a time where maternity services are under public scrutiny both nationally and locally, and in an environment where we are all too quick to complain and slow to praise, my wife and I thought it not only appropriate, but also feel duty bound to highlight the outstanding treatment we received from a particular member of your midwifery team at UHL - Ann Raja, Lead Infant Feeding Midwife.

To provide a very brief background, our son was born at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, and after a long and difficult labour and eventual assisted birth, my wife and son were discharged home late the same evening.

Our son was born with a tongue tie, which was noticed and recorded at birth. Unfortunately, he struggled greatly to feed, was losing weight, and was weakening significantly. It was at the early intervention of a community midwife at a home visit that we were referred directly to Ann, who found the time to accommodate us at her clinic at the Leicester General the same day. We are truly thankful for Ann’s flexibility and quick mobilization - seven months later, we often reflect on the impact she had on the first days of our son's life.

Ann is the type of character who instantly took charge of the situation, giving us complete confidence in her knowledge and ability. Not only that, her style of communication, forthrightness with sensitivity, has a unique ability to bring relief to first-time parents in understandable distress. Ann went above and beyond to remain in contact with us over the course of a number of days, which included a second appointment, and to support us to a point where effective feeding was established following a private frenotomy. Her intervention and quality of care were undoubtedly what kept our son from being readmitted to the hospital.