NHS 70: A day in the life of a community midwife

As the NHS celebrates its 70th birthday, ITV News Central is celebrating the work of staff who work tirelessly keep it going.

• Sue Collins, Community Midwife

I’ve worked for the NHS for over 40 years, starting as an 18-year-old straight out of school.

The NHS is hugely important in this country. It’s hugely important to all of us.

Not only has it given me a good life and good job for many years, it’s also saved my life on three occasions.

First I nearly died after complications in labour, and then twice it has saved me from cancer.

Nobody asked me what my bank balance was, or whether I could afford it, or anything like that.

Occasionally there are times when you think we could this a bit better or we could do that quicker, but we provide care to everybody and that’s the most important thing.

Over the years I’ve also kept lots of items of memorabilia and midwifery related items that have been given to me or are no longer in use.

I’ve got baby weighing scales with a dummy new-born baby which is over 100 years old and has been delivered in training so many times he’s lost his nose!

Some of my proudest moments in the NHS have been the home deliveries I’ve been to with my colleagues.

I’ve helped women give birth in the back of buses, in farmers’ fields, at festivals, and almost every place you can imagine.

Home deliveries are the best in the world. They’re so relaxed and I’m lucky I did my training when they were still popular.

Some things have changed a lot during my time and lots of others are still very similar.

There are a lot more machines now than before, and machines do help, but you don’t want machines to take over.

It’s the people that make it. Sitting there and talking to people, that’s what people really want.