March 2021
Kate
Burningham
,
Midwife
Maternity Assessment Unit, Torbay Hospital
Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust
Kate checked up and she made sure the patient was relaxed and she held her hand when needed - she honestly was amazing!
Kate was nominated for the amazing care she gave to an expectant mum throughout her pregnancy. Being pregnant in a lockdown was hard enough but not having the support at appointments was even tougher. Kate wasn't the named midwife but the minute the patient broke down in tears was the minute she was brought in to pick up the pieces. Every appointment after that she was there waiting to do her blood and to check how she was doing. Kate became the named midwife. Throughout her pregnancy the patient suffered from bad nightmares and was convinced that something was going to happen to her or her baby, the mental health team was unavailable as during the pandemic they weren't seeing people face to face but this just made Kate want to help more. She checked up and she made sure the patient was relaxed and she held her hand when needed - she honestly was amazing! She told the patient it was ok to be scared and she was honest, she knew that she couldn't promise that everything would be ok but she did a great job at telling the patient that she was ok at that point in time. The patient gave birth to a little boy two weeks early and that day Kate popped up from the day assessment unit to make sure all was ok and to have a cuddle with the new addition. The patient says, "I haven't got enough words to say thank you to her so as a fellow front-line paramedic I would like to nominate her for an award to say thank you a million times over."