NHS GREATER Glasgow and Clyde is celebrating the amazing role midwives play in our lives today on the International Day of the Midwife.

Throughout the area celebrations were planned that are now changed due to coronavirus and social distancing measures.

A local baker is preparing three cakes to donate to each of the maternity unites at the Princess Royal, Queen Elizabeth and Royal Alexandra hospitals to acknowledge the work being carried out by staff throughout the pandemic. A Clubersize session will also be virtually screened to all midwife units to take part and enjoying keeping fit and healthy while celebrating their safely.

Evelyn Frame, chief midwife, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “All our midwives work hard every day to ensure mothers and their families receive the quality care that they deserve and even now, they carry on doing this very special job in the midst of a pandemic.

“This has meant that student midwives have joined us early into the NHSGGC family and I want to extend a very warm welcome to them today and wish them every success in their careers.”

The International Confederation of Midwives first established the idea of the International Day of the Midwife following discussion among Midwives Associations in the late 1980s, then launched the initiative formally in 1992.

Each year, the day gives an opportunity for midwives around the world to think about others in the profession, to make new contacts within and outside midwifery and widen the knowledge of what midwives do for the world.