Lara Beth Taylor

Midwifery is a vocational role one which I have always been drawn to and feel as sense of belonging as I am a naturally empathetic, supportive and have great communication skills. Empowering women and improving patient care, safety and experience are things which I feel very passionate about. I am friendly, enthusiastic and have an excellent work ethic. I believe I am a natural communicator and value building rapport, trust and respect with colleagues, women and their families.

After achieving my Band 6 Senior Midwifery role with The Royal Cornwall Hospital, United Kingdom (UK); I relocated and continued my senior role with Stepping Hill Hospital, UK. Both of which I had the opportunity to work autonomously and within a team across all the maternity services including community, antenatal, postnatal, labour ward and the birth centre. All were remarkable learning opportunities in fantastic work environments where I felt supported by my colleagues. I believe this highlighted the importance of the multidisciplinary team and collaborative problem solving as it demonstrated by having a supportive team resulted in better outcomes by calculating risk leading to innovation. I felt this also aided in my confidence and personal growth as a midwife and shaped me into a well-rounded team worker with an aim to respect and aid all members of staff to create a pleasant and efficient work environment.

Furthermore, as the primary care provider for low-risk women and managing the risk of the the high-risk woman I am also confident in undertaking solo tasks, decision making, critical thinking, time management and gained excellent organisation skills to ensure the safe and effective care of women and their families.

Along with Stepping Hill Hospital, I worked at The Royal Cornwall Hospital which has an approximate birth rate of 7,000 births per year and is a regional tertiary referral unit for genetics and fetal medicine. This provided me with rich learning opportunities working across two major hospitals in areas which are highly populated, culturally, and socially diverse. I became adaptable and able to work within high-risk, high-pressure scenarios for example, obstetric emergencies. During my career as a qualified midwife, I have been exposed to several emergencies including, PPH, fetal bradycardia/tachycardia, emergency caesarean section, instrumental delivery, neonatal resuscitation, shoulder dystocia, cord prolapses, eclampsia seizures and neonatal deaths. Due to this exposure, I am confident in recognising deviations from the norm, escalation, care pathways, and participation in life saving practice. Equally, I can provide primary low risk care for women and their baby's. As part of my role within the community, I recruited a case load of low-risk women and solely managed all care and appointments in a community setting following their care throughout the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal period; this allowed me to take the lead in planning individualised woman centred care, assessing risk, discussing birth options and advocating for women on the continuity of carer model. As a midwife I believe I have been a strong advocate for woman and their families and encouraged low-risk birth settings where appropriate. I decided to train at Sheffield Hallam University as I was wanted to have the experience of training in a multicultural and socioeconomically diverse area. I feel passionate that all the care I provide should be tailored to the individual needs of the women and families I work with and that an ability to identify women at risk is key part of this. During my training I worked with women which have been refugees, homeless and in abusive relationships, and endeavour to build a rapport with all women as to encourage them to disclose personal information in an environment which feels safe. This has continued throughout career as a midwife. I have gained experience in ensuring all concerns that have been raised have been met with the appropriate support and services with informed consent ensuring candour. I feel confident making referrals to appropriate care services in collaboration with women and multi-agencies to safeguard and ensure women get enough and appropriate support for their individual needs. Having trained and worked within an ethnically diverse city and having worked alongside families from a multitude of cultures and religions I have gained skills in adapting my care approach to sensitively meet spiritual needs as well as invaluable skills when faced with communication barriers. Particularly non-verbal communication and working with external bodies such as translators or technological communication services. Which are transferable skills I plan to continue to use throughout my career to promote individualised women centred care which affords dignity and equality to all women and their families.

As a statutory requirement as a midwife I have kept up to date with my mandatory training and attended in house workshops and national conferences including the Royal Collage of Midwives conference 2022 to further my knowledge of current information available in maternity. I also attended a Down's Syndrome training day which helped me prepare for conversations within the antenatal period and sensitively discuss trisomy screening and outcomes with parents in a non-biased and supportive way. I have also spent time with speciality midwives such as the auditing midwife, which I spent four months with completing hospital audits, the use of excel and the presentation of data to improve patient experiences, birth outcomes and department finances. I spent time with the bereavement specialist and the diabetic midwife to further my knowledge and understanding so I am familiar with guidelines and understand the importance of clear documentation and attention to detail in all specialised areas.

Currently, I adhere to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) professional standards and The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives, and nursing associates (UK) and always practice within my scope of knowledge.

Education is a lifelong process in midwifery; the preceptor program allowed me to refine my skills, values, and behaviours to become an autonomous practitioner. As a senior midwife, I have been able to develop and fine-tuned these skills to provide safe and effective patient centred care. During this time, I also acquired good leadership skills by managing shifts and its staff, as well the education of midwifery students by recognising and managing the failing student by liaising with ward managers, education facilitators and university lecturers, organising meetings, completion of assessment documents and structuring student development action plans. After twelve years of healthcare hospital experience and almost five years as a qualified midwife, I now feel I am ready to progress into a management position and challenge myself to the highest level and continue to develop my career within midwifery. I believe I am at a time in my personal life where I am able to commit to my career and excel at my fullest potential.

APRAH - NMW0002717014

NMC - 20I2951E

WHV (417) April 2025