This year’s Midwife of the Year, Madelaine Cohr provided her patient with outstanding care and advice when she wanted a home birth.
A traumatic experience during labour can be a difficult thing to get over, especially when another pregnancy presents itself. The desire to do things differently, to do things the ‘right’ way can be overwhelming and sometimes, unfortunately, out of reach. For her fourth pregnancy, Elly Brennan was sure she wanted a home birth; a birth that was a gentle and a healing experience for her and her family. Elly was searching for the right midwife to help her achieve this goal and soon discovered Private Midwives Ireland, who put her in touch with Madelaine.
Elly describes Madelaine as a caring and kind person and above all, a good listener. She says, “I never had to worry about going to the hospital, I knew that Madaleine would support me, I knew that she would be behind me if anything went wrong.” Under Madelaine’s care and attention, Elly overcame her fears and insecurities about home birthing. Through her time with Madelaine, she realised her ability to birth her son without pain relief and at home; something that she greatly desired to do after her previous pregnancies. She says, “Every time I look at my son, I am amazed that I actually did that. I am amazed that he’s here and he’s healthy and he’s huge. But I’m also amazed that I had the power to do that myself. That’s what makes her special. She helped me to realise that.”