Do you remember why you became a midwife? I do. Summer 2002, a warm labour ward in Seville. I was a student nurse. I witnessed a woman give birth and saw strength, beauty and love I had never seen before. I saw what a midwife could do with science and heart. Aged 21, I left my family in Spain and joined the NHS to become a midwife.

I worked in intensive care first. Over seventeen years at Barts Health I grew from student midwife to Consultant Midwife, developed services that became routine care for women making choices about birth, reflecting on challenging experiences and accessing immunisation. I helped secure funds to rebuild our maternity and neonatal services, co-founded the Midwifery Unit Network and worked across Europe to promote birth centres.

After leading teams through the first years of the pandemic, I joined the Chief Midwifery Office where I lead on safer staffing, workforce planning and support for midwives across England.

These are hard times for midwifery. But turning challenge into growth and possibility is what midwives have always done. I am proud of this profession and every one of us who shows up for colleagues, women and families.