IDM2024 | Meet our specialist Elan midwives supporting vulnerable people

5th May 2024 marks International Day of the Midwife and this year, we shine a light on our incredible Elan Midwifery Team which supports vulnerable women and families.  

The specialist team of midwives supports hundreds of vulnerable women and families every year to ensure they receive compassionate, safe and equitable health care.  

Those referred to the service include women seeking sanctuary, survivors of trauma or harmful practices, young parents, families experiencing homelessness, victims of domestic violence, women with additional learning needs and those experiencing poor mental health.  

They often face barriers to accessing health care or engaging with services and Elan works alongside third sector and partner organisations to provide individualised care to improve outcomes for families.  

Wendy Ansell, Specialist Midwife for Women Seeking Sanctuary and Survivors of Harmful Practices, said: “I love my job and I feel incredibly privileged. I look after a particularly vulnerable group of women with really complex needs. They can come to me at all different stages of pregnancy sometimes having never received any antenatal care and with physical or psychological conditions because of what they have experienced.  

“My role is to support them in navigating maternity services, guiding them throughout their pregnancy and supporting them once they’ve had their baby. Our goal is to have a healthy mum and a healthy baby and we do that by ensuring they receive equitable health care and the health care they need.” 

There are eight midwives and one maternity care assistant working within Elan and the service provides 7-day support and advice to ensure continuity of care.  

Jude Beard qualified as a midwife in 2004 and has worked within the Elan team for more than a decade.  

“I wanted to work with Elan to support women who might be feeling lost or don’t know who to turn to and make sure they feel listened to,” she said. 

“We work very closely as a team to ensure women are in a position to provide the best start to their baby's lives. Often, they have had negative past experiences and have developed a mistrust towards health and social care services. We are there to guide them and help break any negative cycles. 

“As a team, we are non-judgmental and are flexible to make sure we can meet their needs — usually we meet women in their homes but sometimes that isn’t possible and sometimes we also need to be flexible around when we meet. But at the same time, safeguarding is a huge part of what we do and we are completely open and transparent so they know what to expect and are supported along the way.” 

As well as working along with partner organisations, Elan work closely with third-sector organisations and charities such as Cwtch Baby Bank and The Birth Partner Project.  

Elan midwife Kate Davies said: “A big part of my role is to make sure they have everything in place so they are ready for when their baby comes. That might mean signposting them to register with local services or explaining what help they are entitled to.  

“Sometimes, it’s the little things that seem easy for a lot of people that end up being the biggest barriers and once you have addressed those, they’re in a much better position. 

“We work closely with lots of brilliant organisations to make sure women have the essentials for themselves and their babies. Cwtch Baby Bank provides incredible baby baskets completely free of charge and when families receive them you can see the enormous difference it makes.  

“We also work with The Birth Partner Project which is incredible and work with volunteer birth partners to make sure women seeking sanctuary who are completely alone with no friends or family have somebody by their side. 

“Our job is very demanding and complex but watching women start their journey in a very difficult place develop and succeed as parents is so rewarding.”