Kathryn Grout

Being absolutely adamant about having a natural home birth and without any medical intervention, I was terrified of going into the hospital for labor. After 5 days of contractions and 27 hours of labor, I was sent into the Royal Infirmary as meconium was detected during my home birth when my waters broke.

With all the stress and worry with being transferred, I lost feeling of my contractions, and being two weeks and a day overdue, I was up against it to give birth.
Senior midwives and consultants tried persuading me to "give up" and go in for a C-section the moment I arrived. Kathryn advocated for my wishes and stayed with me for a further 4 hours of labour from 00:30 to 05:00 am. Losing my feeling of contractions, I felt absolutely terrified as I thought something was wrong; however, she reassured me and kept feeling for my contractions and persistently guided and instructed me when to push.

In the end, I was sent for an episiotomy. Kathryn stayed with me throughout the procedure and with tears in my eyes of utter fear, I will never forget looking over at her and feeling the empathy and compassion she had for me, at that moment she brought me so much peace and comfort.

I am so deeply grateful for Kathryn's care; she is a remarkable student midwife, and she is such a credit to the NHS. She showed exemplary care throughout, and I wish her my very best regards for her career ahead of her.