Putting mums first

Heather Moth, midwife

I came into midwifery at the age of 38 after a career within the insurance industry. My children were in their early teens so it was a good time for me to re-think my work life. After completing an access course, I gained a place at Southampton University and when I qualified (8 years ago) I decided to remain at Southampton because of the diversity of the population we care for here. 

For nearly three years I served as the specialist midwife for optimum maternal weight to enhance the patient experience for mothers with raised, or minimal, BMI. I’m currently based at our stand-alone New Forest Birth Centre, working within a community based team and I co-ordinate postnatal care.  In addition to this, I commit to a shift a week with our 24 hour ‘Labourline' telephone service, which supports women in the early and latent phase of labour. We’ve had such a positive response to this service from our women; it ensures that beds remain free for those in established labour, whilst still providing crucial support to those at home during the early stages.

Our specialist neonatal unit means that we can offer individualised care to women with very high risk pregnancies and our obstetric team are constantly reviewing and updating practice. Innovations such as remifentanil for pain relief and our popular midwife-led Vaginal Birth After Caesarean pathway are just two examples. Being a university affiliated Trust we take part in and lead research which underpins our commitment to fresh thinking in maternity.

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