Working Life: It's a privilege to  welcome Christmas babies into the world

Christina McNamara, clinical midwife manager, Labour & Birthing Unit, National Maternity Hospital

Christina McNamara, clinical midwife manager,
at the National Maternity Hospital. Picture: Moya Nolan.

7pm

Over Christmas week, I’ve been working night shifts on the Labour and Birthing Unit at The National Maternity Hospital. On Christmas Eve night, I tucked my two little girls, aged one and two, into bed before Santa visited. My oldest gets so excited about me looking after babies at work that she doesn’t mind me leaving.

8pm

At the unit, I meet the day shift midwives and managers preparing to go home. Together, the midwife managers do a ward round to meet all patients. This introduction includes meeting the women in labour and women who have already given birth. After the ward round, the manager allocates a midwife to provide one-to-one care to each woman on the unit.

We always try to create a festive atmosphere during Christmas by playing Christmas music and wearing festive tunics.

8.30pm

Even though it’s Christmas, things carry on as normal. At the start of the shift, we check all of the safety equipment.

9.30pm

We have a ‘ Safety Huddle’, a meeting of the doctors and senior midwifery managers to discuss the management and care of anyone who may have additional needs or require extra support from us throughout the night.

12.30am

There is a great festive atmosphere in the unit during Christmas week. Just after midnight on Christmas Eve, we sat down to a delicious Christmas dinner made by our fantastic catering team and shared our staff Kris Kindle, which is always great fun.

Most nights, an average of 10 babies are born, but on a busier night, there may be more. We have a highly skilled team that works amazingly together to manage any emergencies.

7.30 am

The day shift midwives arrive, and we do the ward round together. It can be very tough spending Christmas away from family. 

However, it really is a privilege to support women and their families and welcome Christmas babies into the world while working with incredible colleagues.

On Christmas morning, I made it home before the girls got out of bed to see if Santa had visited. 

I slept for a couple of hours and had Christmas dinner with my family before returning to work.