To mark 100 years of BBC broadcasting, Dr Alice Watson from the University of Oxford has worked with the BBC to produce a 28-part podcast celebrating Call the Midwife and its special relationship with audiences. In Episode 7 of the podcast series, our very own Community Infant Feeding Coordinator Hannah Spiring speaks about being a nurse, midwifery and health visiting in the East End.
She also talks about cycling to the families in her care. If anyone’s the real-life Jenny Lee (Lead character in Call the Midwife), it’s Hannah!
Hannah said: “Years ago I was in Poplar in the Isle of Dogs visiting new mums, this was way before ‘Call the Midwife’ came out. I visited mums before and after their babies were born to support them with caring for their newborn and checking everything was okay after the birth.”
“I was working as a Midwife from 2000s, then I took a break to have my kids back in 2010. After this I did a practice course to return to midwifery and worked a further five years as a midwife, before doing my health visiting training in 2015/2016.”
“When I qualified as a Health Visitor, I was put on a team based in Poplar. As a Health Visitor I work with families under the age of five supporting them. First contact with mums is during pregnancy to introduce them to our service and what to expect.”
“We see families with no risks regularly throughout the first two years of their child’s life to do development checks over the phone or in clinics if families are worried about anything. My role involves a lot of health promotion and how families can support their child’s development, fight diseases, breastfeeding support, moving onto solid foods, and getting their child ready for school. This support can be done in the families’ homes, GP surgeries or Children and Family Centres.”
