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Plea:
I have been a midwife for over 25 years and in 2004 became Whiston Hospital’s first ever Bereavement Midwife, since then I have made it my mission to help the Trust deliver the best possible care to the families who need it most.
I spend precious time with parents and their little one making keepsakes such as foot and hand prints, taking photographs and supporting them to create lasting memories of holding and dressing their baby. My number one aim is to provide families with as many positive memories as possible to help with their bereavement.
Beyond the delivery suite I stay in touch with families for many reasons, I’m someone they can contact anytime of night or day, they can talk openly and honestly about how they are feeling and of course they can ask as many questions as they need to, I like to think I’m always there to help families feel safe and supported.
Often I support mothers through subsequent pregnancies offering reassurance during the antenatal period and sometimes if I’m lucky I can be there when they meet their new baby.
My experience has meant that in recent years I have been asked to support staff who are caring for bereaved families and I run regular teaching sessions for midwives and healthcare assistants to improve their knowledge and enhance the care they deliver.
Many people ask me how I do the job that I do and the honest answer is that I don’t really know, what I do know is that I am privileged to meet amazing mums, dads and families who openly welcome me into their lives during the most difficult of times and never a day goes by when I don’t do all I can to provide the best care possible to the parents and babies I meet.
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Nominated for the Bereavement Worker Award by:
Louisa Gardiner and family
“I first met Julie in March 2013, when she was introduced to me as my Bereavement Midwife. This is a role I never knew existed, as birth and death are not normally associated with one another.
Bobby was my third child, but my first boy. He was a child who would have been so very loved. My pregnancy had been very straight forward with absolutely no complications at all. I’d left work at 37 weeks and attended a routine Midwife appointment at 38 weeks. It was at this point where a problem was detected. Bobby’s heartbeat was no longer present.
I met Julie in the Delivery Suite, she is my miracle.
All midwives do a wonderful job, but Julie has that magic sparkle. When my induction with Bobby began, I was worried that Julie’s shift would end before I had delivered. I didn’t want her to leave me as I was relying on her to look after me. She replied “don’t worry I will be here to meet him”. At the time this struck me as an odd thing to say, as we all knew that Bobby wasn’t really here, and there was no one to meet. And yet, she happily wanted to be there anyway when he was born. When Bobby came into the world Julie treated him no differently from any other baby. She bathed him and dressed him in clothes we’d chosen for him. She stayed with me for as long as I wanted to reassure me and care for me, and Bobby.
Sometime after Bobby’s birth, I decided that I would like to try for another child. Julie was available to give medical advice and support from day one.
Bobby had become tangled in his cord, and although no promises could be made that this would not happen again, Julie reassured me that I would get the best care. A few months later, I did find out that I was expecting again but unfortunately, it was not to be and I miscarried at 9 weeks. Julie was there to support me once again. She went out of her way to arrange appointments with my consultant whenever I needed further reassurance and medical advice. Sadly, I was to miscarry once more after this, and again Julie stepped up for the whole family.
It was just 12 months after Bobby had passed when I found out I was expecting again. This time, my luck changed and this baby was here to stay.
I called Julie the day I found out I was pregnant, and within 48 hours, she had organised early reassurance scans, numerous appointments with my consultant, explained my care plan to me and supported me as a professional, and friend.
When my 12 and 20 week scans were approaching I discussed my fears that either there would be a problem, or I’d lost the baby again, just like Bobby and she reassured me every time. I didn’t want scans to be in the same room where I’d been told of Bobby’s death and Julie thoughtfully arranged for them to be in a different room with a different sonographer.
She didn’t make me feel silly or embarrassed about my feelings. She even sat with me at my 12 week scan and held my hand throughout.
When I finally reached full term and was admitted for induction Julie wasn’t my designated midwife but found the time to come and sit with me through my (very long!) labour.
Julie is my absolute hero and I cannot thank her enough for helping my second son arrive safely and perfectly healthily. She has worked above and beyond her role to help me cope with the emotional turmoil since losing Bobby and I know she does the same for other families. I met Julie almost three years ago and I admire her more and more as time goes by. She is an absolute credit to the team at Whiston Maternity Unit, every hospital needs a Julie.”
What others have said:
Julie is my miracle. All midwives do a wonderful job, but Julie has that magic sparkle. When my induction with Bobby began, I was worried that Julie’s shift would end before I had delivered. I didn’t want her to leave me but she’d said “9pm, hopefully I will still be here to meet him”. It was this that struck me as an odd thing to say, as we all knew that Bobby wasn’t really here, and there was no one to meet. And yet, she happily wanted to be there anyway when he arrived. Julie is my absolute hero.
Julie delivered 2 of my siblings, one who was born sleeping. My mum speaks so fondly of Julie even though it was such a difficult time in her life. Keep up the good work.
At my 20 week scan I found out my baby girl had no heartbeat. The placenta had become detached. I was introduced to Julie and she helped me in the initial hours following the awful news. After delivery she came to see me and even rang me when I was home. The support from her was amazing. She’s a lovely lady and deserves to win. Thank you Julie xxxx
Julie was my midwife when I delivered my twins Alice and Leo in 2013. Leo was still born at 36 weeks. Julie was a huge support for myself and my family all the way through and still is now. Julie listened and answered all our questions and guided us through the hardest time in our life and help us make precious memories that we hold close in our hearts of our little boy. We can’t Thankyou enough without you we wouldn’t have got through it. Keep up your amazing work such a lovely lady with a huge heart. X
You meet many midwives during your partners pregnancy but Julie stood above the rest. Her overall attitude and passion for her job is second to none and helps you make the day feel more special. Unfortunately my partners labour lasted too long for her to stay but she was with us for a good 9-10 hours and made the whole thing much easier for my partner to cope with labour. Lovely lady.
Literally sobbed watching the video for this profile. What an amazing support you are for families at the very worst times of there life! If only all hospital trusts had dedicated bereavement midwives such as yourself with such dedication and compassion, I feel families would get much better care after loss. Best of luck with the award.
Julie was introduced to us as our bereavement midwife on 26th August this year after I had gone into labour at 20 weeks 5 days and given birth to our angel baby Noah. The first thing that Julie said to us is that she had been to meet Noah. At this point I was still too upset and scared to see Noah, but she explained to us that he was absolutely perfect. Julie didn’t push us into seeing Noah but after listening to her I decided that I wanted to see him. Julie was amazing she brought him into us, she talked about what and who he looked like and also arranged for us to keep the blanket he had on and assured us that he would have another one to replace it and also gave us an identical teddy bear which he had with him. These are the little things that get you the memories you otherwise wouldn’t have had. I am so thankful that I had Julie there that day as I may never have plucked up the courage to meet Noah, something that I know I would have regretted for the rest of my life. As my dad said about the midwifes job…. “It’s not the job that’s lovely, it’s the people that do the job that are lovely.” This describes Julie to a tee although I would also add that she is simply one of earth’s angels. Julie you gave us the courage but most importantly you gave us the memories. Thank you so much xxx
I have worked with Julie and could not do her job, it takes someone special and dedicated to have the compassion and caring nature to look after bereaved families. Julie is always looking to better the service Whiston Maternity Unit offers for these parents. She has worked hard fund raising to enable momentoes to be given to parents. Julie is a credit to the Materniry Service, they’d be lost without her.
Thank you all so much for your kind words
I have been humbled to read your comments X thank you
Shes an amazing woman.
I went into the fmau at 35 weeks pregnant with a head ache and the staff on there picked up that the baby’s heartbeat was dropping.
I got rushed in for an emergency c section and Julie was in the room when they was prepping me for theater.
She really made me calm and reassured me an said someones looking down on you because if i hadn’t of gone into fmau with the head ache i wouldn’t have my precious baby girl now.
All the maternity staff are absolutely amazing.
But to do the job Julie does,she deserves a lot more than this award.
Shes an amazing woman .
I also work with Julie, although not in a midwifery capacity. I help Julie to review her role and can honestly say that she is always looking for ways to improve the Bereavement Service she provides with such dedication. Thankfully I have never needed her ‘special touch’ but my parents lost three babies and my cousin has lost two. They were not supported when their babies died, so I can truly appreciate the very real practical and emotional support she provides to her ladies and their families.
I am a student midwife and The stories of Julie have touched me so much, bereavement midwifery is one of the placements I would like to do, and after reading this I aspire (if I’m lucky enough) to be just like Julie and have people talk find key of me the same way.
This Lady is my Hero We dont know what we would of done without her i will never ever forget this amazing woman THANK YOU