Update Monday 13 May

Since this blog was written, The International Day of the Midwife parkrun and International Nurses Day parkrun have both taken place. You can read the 'run report' from Lincoln parkrun Midwife takeover written by retired midwife Dawn Thomas. Dawn is a regular volunteer at parkrun in Lincoln, after having taken time out from running. Read the report here.

Celebrating Lincolnshire’s Active Midwives

To mark International Day of the Midwife (5 May) and International Nurses Day (12 May), Chief Nursing Officer for England Dame Ruth May, Chief Midwifery Officer for England Kate Brintworth and parkrun UK are encouraging nurses and midwives across England to take part in parkrun events this May.

Across the NHS, health and social care, these days offer an annual opportunity for us to thank midwives and nurses respectively, and to celebrate and recognise the contribution they make and all they do as highly skilled professionals.

Ahead of International Day of the Midwife, we spoke to Community Midwife Amanda Mumby-Croft from the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust who has been tasked with leading on the midwives takeover of the Lincoln parkrun. The event will take place at Lincoln parkrun, which is based at Boultham park, on Saturday 4 May.

As a community midwife, Amanda supports local women throughout their pregnancy journey from their very first antenatal appointment through to birth ensuring they get all the support they need to have a healthy pregnancy and Amanda uses her own personal experiences to champion physical activity amongst the women she works with. From encouraging low level movement for those who are not so active, to supporting women who were active before their pregnancy to continue to be active throughout in a safe and appropriate way.

“I always signpost my women to activities I think would be suitable for them, I think they like it when I recommend activities as they know it will be safe for them”.

However, Amanda hasn’t always been active; for years between school life and establishing a successful midwifery career physical activity didn’t feature in her life as much as it does now.

In 2017 the Royal College of Midwives organised a staff wellbeing day to celebrate International Day of the Midwife; which included a swimming activity, massage, talks and healthy food. This acted as a catalyst and as a result, a group of midwives and doctors agreed to start running as a group and joined the local parkrun the following week. As weeks passed by, new midwives and doctors joined and there has been a steady group of them attending parkrun together every Saturday since. (see top image).

It is since this event in 2017 that Amanda’s love for running re-sparked and running 5K soon increased to 10K and now having ran 6 marathons she has become a running advocate.

As a regular volunteer for the local parkrun, Amanda was asked to lead the takeover event on Saturday 4 May. This involved encouraging other midwives and maternity professionals to come along to either walk, run, or volunteer. Before the run starts, there will be a speech to highlight the special event and to publicly thank and celebrate our local midwives.

Amanda has expressed an interest in becoming a This Mum Moves Ambassador for Lincolnshire; joining 40 other ambassadors across the county to cascade the messaging to others about the benefits and importance of remaining active throughout pregnancy and following childbirth.

Find out more about This Mum Move's Ambassadors, and our work embedding physical activity into the pre and postnatal pathway in our Knowledge Hub.

Find out more about Parkrun for International Day of the Midwife and International Nurses Day.