I am the neonatal lead professional in the most northern trust in England. Our maternity service covers North Tyneside and Northumberland, from the banks of the river Tyne to the Scottish border in Berwick Upon Tweed. We have one consultant unit and 3 free standing maternity units and support women wanting homebirth. Over 3300 babies per year are born within our service.
Northumberland has a level 1 neonatal unit has been nurse-led without on-site medical cover since 1997. Originally based at Ashington we are now based in a new emergency care hospital, the first of its kind in the UK.
I have been an Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner for 20 years. Prior to that I worked as a midwife and neonatal nurse.
My passion at work is optimal cord clamping. I am proud to be able to say we have practiced delayed cord clamping for nearly 10 years and have seen rates of resuscitation at birth drop by nearly 70%. Our delivery rooms are resuscitaire-free zones as we use bedside resuscitation units to avoid the need for immediate cord clamping.