Midwife who has helped bring thousands of babies into the world at Croydon University Hospital retires after 35 years
30 July 2017
Midwife Sister Marcia Gordon, who has helped bring thousands of Croydon babies into the world, has just retired from Croydon University Hospital after 35 years of service.
Marcia first came to the hospital in late 1982 as a newly-qualified midwife and loved it so much that she stayed for 35 years. She worked in all areas of the maternity unit including antenatal, the postnatal ward, labour ward and in the community. However her favourite was the labour ward where she became the sister in 1987 and has stayed ever since, until her last day on Friday July 28 this year.
Over the course of her career she has helped thousands of women have their babies and there have even been several occasions where a little girl she helped bring into the world has returned years later to have her own baby with Marcia’s support.
Now, as she embarks on her well-deserved retirement she is looking forward to spending time with her husband, two daughters and two grandchildren, and not having to do early starts or night shifts. However, she also has mixed feelings about no longer coming to work each day.
“I am looking forward to the time being my own, but I am really going to miss everyone here,” she said. “You really work as a team and we get such great support from everyone, from the consultants to all my midwifery colleagues and managers.
“I must have helped with thousands of births but each one is different. It is the most privileged experience you can have, to be with a woman at such a personal time, and to help them go through the birth and build happy families.”
Marcia has seen many changes over the years. When she began in the unit, women having an uncomplicated birth would still stay four days typically and their babies would spend time in nurseries. Today, women stay in the unit for shorter times and their babies are kept in cots next to their beds. The building has also changed significantly and all paper notes have been replaced with electronic records.
“If I had my life all over again, I would still choose to do this same job and be here,” Marcia said.
“I think it is the best place to train and develop as a midwife. We have such a diverse population and I always say, if you work here, you can work anywhere because you get such a rounded experience in all aspects of obstetrics and midwifery. I like meeting lots of different people from different cultures. I am very proud that we manage complicated cases so efficiently and we have such a high number of midwife-led births.”
Ann Morling, Director of Midwifery at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, said: “We are all going to miss Marcia so much. She is a fantastic midwife, who has shared all her experience with her colleagues and played a key role in building up our excellent team here.
“On behalf of us all at the Trust, and the thousands of women she has helped by bringing their babies into the world, I would like to thank her for her years of dedication and hard work and to wish her a very happy and well-deserved retirement.”