Well, after months of waiting, Wednesday night saw the beginning of the arrival of my beautiful new daughter. When we finally welcomed her into the world on Saturday morning, happy and healthy, we were extremely grateful to the team who had guided us through the whole process; our midwives Emma, Becks, Eileen and Daisy, Sarah the Ward Manager, plus the many other nurses, registrars, consultants, anaesthetists and more. They’d listened to us, kept us informed, given us choices, reassured us, cared for us and supported us every step of the way as we put our faith in them to help my wife safely deliver our daughter.
Looking back on the last few days, seeing the comings and goings of the staff team, watching them finish for the day to go home to their lives and families or arrive ready for their shift, you realise this is just another day in the life of the maternity unit and the many thousands of babies and their families that must pass through each year. Yet we never felt like we were ‘just another delivery’; the warmth we received made us feel truly welcome and cared for and for some reason it got me thinking of our Parents’ Evening last Wednesday, shortly before this whole process began.
What came to mind were the comments from one grandparent of a Year 7 pupil who waited around specifically so she could tell me how warm, friendly and caring everyone was. She was particularly impressed that everyone knew her grandson’s name, with lots of people greeting him on the corridors as she went to the different appointments. What struck me was how significant this was to her. For those of us working in school day to day, this interaction with the pupils is almost taken for granted. Much like the hospital staff who took care of us, for our staff, it’s just part and parcel of what we do.
However, such a little thing in our eyes had clearly make a huge difference to this pupil’s grandparent, in the same way that the warmth and support of the hospital staff had made a huge difference to my wife and I. It reminded me of the responsibility that we as school staff have to our families who put their faith in us to educate and care for their child and the difference we can make every day, just through the little things that we do, sometimes without even realising. I enjoyed talking to several parents who were really pleased with the progress of their child and the high quality of care and support they receive and feedback in general was really positive. This leads me to believe that, whether we’re conscious of it or not, the little things we do every day ultimately add up to make a big difference to the lives of our children and their families.
Gavin
P.S. Mother and baby are both well. I’m taking some time to get to know my new daughter so I’ll leave the blog in the hands of our capable team for a couple of weeks. I look forward to talking to you all again soon.
