Midwife Sonographer

My name is Claire, and I have been a midwife for over sixteen years. I started my training back when I was nineteen. Once I had completed my training, I successfully applied for a job in Swansea Bay Trust where I gained a vast amount of experience in different care settings.

Claire Midwife Sonographer

Where do you work?

I worked as part of the core team on delivery suite providing one to one care to women and their families. I also worked on the wards, working as part of a multi-disciplinary team providing care to multiple patients. I sought opportunities to work in the community, managing my own caseload and attending home deliveries.

After three years, I used my qualifications to obtain a job working as a midwife in a private hospital in Dubai. During this time, I really missed working for the NHS and everything it stands for.

I moved back to the UK and was fortunate to get a job as a midwife back in the NHS. Following this, I have worked in specialist areas of midwifery such as fetal medicine. Where I would assist fetal medicine consultants in scanning referred patients, and in-utero procedures such a fetal blood transfusions and lazer surgery for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. It was during this time I developed an interest in sonography.

Midwife Sonographer

We are a new service providing growth ultrasound scans to women who have been identified at risk of having a small for gestational age (SGA) baby. This service has been developed in Swansea bay Trust with the aim of reducing our stillbirth rate, as research has clearly demonstrated that SGA babies are at an increased risk of stillbirth.

On a day-to-day basis, we run clinics providing serial growth scans for those women identified at risk for having a SGA baby, and we see women referred on the day for any concerns over their baby’s growth.

We also deliver training to other staff in the trust on detection of SGA babies and provide education on the service we offer.

Midwifery is such an interesting career with multiple options to expand your knowledge in specialist midwifery roles. It is also fantastic to be part of the plethora of current research within the midwifery, which is constantly evolving the midwifery practice, ensuring we provide safe and effective care to our patients.

I love the forever-changing pace of midwifery, the different families I have met and cared for, and the opportunities to make a positive impact and change in their lives. It is truly amazing and honourable to have a career that makes such a difference to so many people’s lives.