Fiona Wallis
May 2021
Fiona
Wallis
,
RM
Labour Suite - City Hospital
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Nottingham
United Kingdom
Fiona provided the human touch in my care, holding my hand when I was scared, reassuring me that I was doing well despite my worries and concerns.
Sometimes you meet someone who has such a profound and significant impact on your life that you will never forget them. This is how I feel about Fiona. Having been admitted to Delivery Suite due to pre-eclampsia, my husband and I were facing an incredibly scary and uncertain time. We were told our daughter would need to be delivered soon due to my worsening condition and at only 37 weeks gestation, there was a chance she would need additional help once born. As first-time parents, it was a wonderful twist of fate that it happened to be Mother's Sunday morning when our little girl would be born and so too that Fiona would be our midwife, an angel on earth guiding us through the emergency cesarean delivery, ensuring not only our safety but also our comfort at every possible step. She treated us with compassion and understanding whilst also displaying incredible professionalism and calmness when the baby was delivered and did not breathe straight away.
Also, when I was in recovery and I began to bleed more than normal, she dealt with the situation swiftly without displaying any degree of panic. In shock from the quick delivery and significant blood loss, Fiona provided the human touch in my care, holding my hand when I was scared, reassuring me that I was doing well despite my worries and concerns, and also coaching my husband through those first few hours of fatherhood, never once excluding him.
Whilst under Fiona’s care, I keenly felt her desire to go the extra mile, taking the time to get footprints of our daughter, mixing up aromatherapy oils to help with breastfeeding, and going all the way to the burns department to fetch a cream for a skin rash. That day, Fiona not only delivered a baby but also delivered a mother, offering warm encouragement and reassurance that I was doing well despite the challenges we were facing due to the complications.
Becoming a mum is such a seismic event in your life and I am so, so grateful for everything Fiona did for us that day; a “thank you” is simply not enough. I truly believe that for Fiona, being a midwife is more than just a job, it is a vocation and what she was meant to do. NUH is privileged to have her work in their team and we are so incredibly lucky and grateful that Fiona was our Midwife.
Also, when I was in recovery and I began to bleed more than normal, she dealt with the situation swiftly without displaying any degree of panic. In shock from the quick delivery and significant blood loss, Fiona provided the human touch in my care, holding my hand when I was scared, reassuring me that I was doing well despite my worries and concerns, and also coaching my husband through those first few hours of fatherhood, never once excluding him.
Whilst under Fiona’s care, I keenly felt her desire to go the extra mile, taking the time to get footprints of our daughter, mixing up aromatherapy oils to help with breastfeeding, and going all the way to the burns department to fetch a cream for a skin rash. That day, Fiona not only delivered a baby but also delivered a mother, offering warm encouragement and reassurance that I was doing well despite the challenges we were facing due to the complications.
Becoming a mum is such a seismic event in your life and I am so, so grateful for everything Fiona did for us that day; a “thank you” is simply not enough. I truly believe that for Fiona, being a midwife is more than just a job, it is a vocation and what she was meant to do. NUH is privileged to have her work in their team and we are so incredibly lucky and grateful that Fiona was our Midwife.