A day in the Life of Clinical Midwife Manager - Rachel Hannon

My name is Rachel Hannon. I have been a proud member of the midwifery team in University Maternity Hospital Limerick (UMHL) since I left secondary school in 2010. I began my professional career by completing a Bachelor of Science in Midwifery in the University of Limerick. I qualified as a registered midwife in 2014. I have always been committed to professional development, and in 2019 I qualified as a registered midwife prescriber.

I am currently working as a Clinical Midwife Manager on Ward M3, this ward is a high risk antenatal ward. This means we care for women who have not yet birthed their babies, but who have complications of their pregnancy. Sadly, a large part of our role on M3 also involves caring for bereaved families. As a team on M3, we feel honoured to be part of bereaved family’s journeys and we strive to make that journey as smooth as is possible.

Every day on M3 looks different. We are an exceptionally busy unit, with quite a large turnover of women. I begin my day by getting a handover from the midwives on night shift. Once I have completed the handover, I contact the admissions unit to establish how many women will need to be electively admitted to M3. This number changes constantly, and our day on M3 can end up looking very different than originally planned.

My next role is to liaise with the wider multidisciplinary team which includes perinatal mental health team, medical social worker team, physiotherapy team, bereavement team and the ultrasound team. We discuss patient care together, and we make plans that are woman centred. After completing these phone calls, I leave the midwives station and meet with the women. M3 is always a hive of activity in the morning. The midwives and student midwives will be assessing and talking to the women. At the same time, our doctors will also be on the ward. Each women on M3 is seen by a doctor every day.

Together, as a team (doctor, midwife, woman), we make a plan for the day. I usually spend my mornings meeting each woman and ensuring that she is happy with her plan of care, and that she has no questions or concerns. At 13.00pm every day we have a “labour ward huddle’. Members of the multidisciplinary team of obstetric, paediatric& midwife meet to discuss the activity in each area and high risk patients. It is a great opportunity to seek advice from other colleagues.

In the afternoons, after lunch breaks, I take the time to do complete some important administrative work. I spend this time doing rotas, planning changes in the ward, meeting with various teams to ensure that our practice is always up-to-date and women centred.

While my day is very busy, and filled with variety, my favourite part is meeting with the women. I love to chat to every women, every day (where possible). It’s a great opportunity to ensure the women of M3 always feel safe, and feel involved in their care. My priority on M3 is always to ensure that every women safe and heard.

Sadly, but also excitedly, I will shortly be leaving M3. I am about to start a new role, of candidate Midwife Practitioner for Assisted Care Pathway(cAMP). As part of this role, I (with lots of my wonderful colleagues) will be setting of a new service for the women who attend UMHL. We aim to set up a Fetal Assessment Unit (FAU). Our goal in the FAU is to allow a more outpatient management approach to high risk antenatal care. Where medically safe, instead of women being admitted to M3, they will attend the FAU to be seen each day. Our goal is to keep women at home with their families, but with a firm focus on patient safety. I will be really sad to leave my colleagues, and work on M3. However, I am really excited to see improvements in patient care in UMHL, and I feel really honoured to be a part of that.