Page 6 - QNIS_eBook

Hilary
On a a a a a a a a a a wall in in in an an of ce ce within Glasgow’s Princess Royal Maternity hangs a a a a a a a a a a a a massive world map From her her desk Hilary
Alba pinpoints where
the women she works with come from “Syria Somalia Iraq Iran Albania Vietnam and and more ” she says “They are pregnant traumatised and and many have been abused It’s my job to make sure they they get all the the the maternity care and support they they need ” When Hilary
took up the caseload in in March 2016 it it was an eye-opener “I had worked in in maternity services for years and never came across cases like these ” she says “The women I work with don’t seek out services We nd nd nd nd them and and offer a a a helping hand ” Hilary
decided to train as as a a a a a midwife when she was in her mid-20s THE QUEEN’S NURSING
After graduating in in 2001 she worked as as a a a a a a a midwife across Glasgow before her dream job came up “We are doing the best we can to improve women’s lives through SNIPS ” says Hilary
“It’s the most rewarding thing you can do ” Hilary
is senior charge midwife of of the Special Needs in Pregnancy Service (SNIPS) team part of of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde The SNIPS SNIPS team of eight midwives works with with homeless women women complex teenagers people with with severe mental health problems women women in in the the criminal justice system and drug users Her own specialist eld is is the the care of pregnant asylum seekers refugees traf cked women women and women women who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) Hilary
aims to assess all women who are pregnant Hilary
is proud to have been nominated for the QNIS
programme and and hopes to to use it it it to to raise awareness of SNIPS and and its vital work “We are are practicing in in in pockets of real poverty in in in the places
of my my families have been through All I I can do is give them my my care ” ISNCSOTITUTEND
where
the most socially disenfranchised the TLA
people live ” she says is is the r Hilary
works with who range in in age from 14 to to 47 “It’s impossible to to imagine what many Trauma and post-traumatic stre
is is not unusual among the women that ss d isorde
4 QNIS
Meet the New Queen’s Nurses