'Don’t let anyone tell you it’s too late to change your life!' - Hartlepool woman ready to take on dream job as a midwife

Nicola Riley, 37, has worked in a number of different jobs ranging from a cleaner, waitress and administrative assistant but is now just six weeks away from becoming a qualified midwife and already has a job lined up at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS trust.

During her adult life, mother of two Nicola has always dreamed of becoming a midwife and in 2018 took the plunge and was accepted onto the Teesside University Midwifery programme.

Despite the move being a daunting one to take, Nicola is over the moon she now gets the chance to live her dream career.

She said: “I always wanted to be a midwife. My own experience of having my children inspired me.

“My partner Louis has been a huge support. You need your family behind you at this age because when you get in from the ward or university, there’s more academic work to do.”

Studying and training on the wards at University Hospital of North Tees throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has presented its own challenges for Nicola.

She added: “COVID-19 has changed everything. On the wards it’s altered everything we do and we need to provide so much more emotional support to our new mums, who are understandably more anxious then they would usually be.

“It also hasn’t been easy not being able to go to university. Online distance learning isn’t the same and we’ve not been able to do all of our practical training sessions, we’ve had to find new ways of training but the university staff have been great and so have my midwifery colleagues and mentors.”

The Trust’s deputy head of midwifery, Becky Eggleston paid tribute to Nicola’s tenacity. She said: “Nicola has worked incredibly hard to get to where she has. This isn’t an easy job to train for at any time, but to do it with a family shows real commitment and drive.”

Asked what her message would be to anyone considering a career change or going back into education, Nicola said: “Do it! “Don’t let anyone tell you it’s too late to change your life!”

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