A midwife at Musgrove Park Hospital has scooped a prestigious national Cavell Star Award for showing exceptional care to the families she’s cared for, including many from the Burnham-On-Sea area.
Pip Quinn has been a midwife for almost 30 years, a profession that she’s only ever wanted to work in.
It was at the turn of the millennium that Pip first joined the NHS in Somerset, as a community midwife in Bridgwater, and since then she’s been in various roles, most recently at the Bracken Birthing Centre at Musgrove Park Hospital since 2009.
Her background is in supporting physiological births and promoting personalised choice for families.
Pip became the birthing centre’s lead in 2020 and played a vital role in raising its profile, with a large-scale refurbishment, including two new birthing pools, taking place a few years ago, thanks to a kind donation from the hospital’s League of Friends and its supporters.
It was for this work that Pip has been awarded a Cavell Star, an accolade given to nurses, midwives, nursing associates and healthcare assistants who shine bright and show exceptional care to one of their patients, colleagues or a patient’s family.
She said: “I was very surprised to win the award, as one moment I was working away at my desk, and the next thing our director of midwifery Sally Bryant asked me to pop into a room with her for a minute, and I was given the fantastic surprise.”
“Someone in my team had nominated me for the award, which I’m really humbled by, although I haven’t a clue to this day who it was!”
“I’m overwhelmingly proud to have won the award and I don’t even feel worthy of it as I come to work and do my best like everybody else, but all the same it’s nice to know that I’m valued and I hope that I make other people feel valued as well.
“I’ve been a clinical midwife on the ground and I still love that part of the job, but I went into this team leader role to support midwives and maternity support workers to be able to do their jobs and thrive and grow.”
“I have an amazing team of colleagues here, who are really innovative and supportive of each other.”
“I think we do some great things in the maternity unit in tricky situations, so I just come to work every day in the hope that I can keep people at work and support them to be the best that they can be.”
“Colleagues sticking together and looking after each other is so important, as it’s tricky to look after other people if you’re not doing this.”
“Kindness is also so important alongside safe care, and if we can look after each other with a caring ethos, then we can look after families at the most important point in their lives.”
“Everyone is doing such an amazing job and every day I see moments of brilliance within my NHS colleagues.”
Pictured top (left to right): Alison Dennett – head of midwifery at Musgrove Park Hospital, Pip Quinn – manager at Bracken Birthing Centre, Sally Bryant – director of midwifery. Above: Colleagues at Musgrove Park Hospital’s maternity unit.
