It wasn’t on my first-ever shift as a student midwife that I noticed I was different; those early weeks were a blur of excitement, fear and adrenaline. It was about a month in, once I’d rotated through different areas of the hospital, that I had a moment, tiny but loud, where I finally looked around and realised no one else looked like me.

There were people of colour, and there were Muslims, but there was no one in a hijab. Suddenly, I became hyper-aware of myself. I wasn’t ashamed, nor was I embarrassed; I was just visible in a way I hadn’t prepared for.