Midwives from the Royal Bournemouth Hospital’s maternity services have been shortlisted for awards in leadership, bereavement care and partnership working by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM). 


The prestigious awards celebrate the outstanding work in midwifery across the UK.

The Community Midwifery Team has been shortlisted for the Partnership Working Award. The team work with Bournemouth Children’s Centres to offer care in the community, providing support with breastfeeding, antenatal and postnatal clinics while the Children’s Centres provide valuable links to support women and families beyond pregnancy.

The Leadership Team has been shortlisted for the Leadership Award for their work in supporting and engaging their staff with initiatives including caring for you drop-ins, staff forums and away days.

Meanwhile, Sera Bailey has been shortlisted for the Bereavement Care Award. Sera delivers a bespoke postnatal bereavement service – it’s the only programme of its kind in Dorset. The service is customised to each mother and has been invaluable to those who have suffered a bereavement.

Carmen Cross, Head of Midwifery at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, said: “It’s such an honour to have our work recognised by the Royal College of Midwives. We’re incredibly proud of the range of services we manage in the hospital, Birth Centre and in the community. Making a difference to mothers and their babies is what matters to us but getting this kind of recognition is the icing on the cake.

Gill Walton, Chief Executive of the RCM, said: “The standard of entries has been extremely high, so to get this far is an outstanding achievement. The entries show how much innovation is going on in our maternity services, and how hard midwives, maternity support workers and wider maternity teams are working to deliver safe, high quality care to women, their babies and families. I wish Bournemouth’s maternity services the best of luck at the awards ceremony in March.”

The winners of the awards will be announced at the Annual RCM Midwifery Awards Lunch on Tuesday 5 March at The Brewery in London.