Spotlight On An Expert: Catherine Matthews, Midwifery Expert
Insights - 17/12/25
I started my career in the NHS as a fresh faced 19-year-old. I trained as a dental nurse at a prestigious post graduate dental hospital in London and continued my career after qualifying, in the maxillofacial departments of two other hospitals. Time spent within the community dentistry service, working predominantly with children with extreme learning and physical disabilities gave me an insight into the challenges that both the children and their parents/carers had with their day to day living.
Frustration of having a lot of knowledge in the dentistry field and not being able to be much of a participant, due to practice restrictions, led me to apply for nursing.
I sailed through my nurse training and got my dream job of being a registered nurse in the Emergency Department. I never wanted to work on the hospital wards, I liked the unpredictability of what was coming through the doors day to day.
Making the move to midwifery was not a decision taken lightly and was prompted by the increasing pressures in the Emergency Department, leading nursing staff to not be able to give the care they were trained to do. There was also a lack of career progression opportunities at that time.
It could never be said of me that ‘I had always dreamed of being a midwife,’ but as my training progressed, I realised that I had found my niche. A combination of being an autonomous practitioner and being an advocate for women and their families at the most vulnerable times of their lives, both happy and sad, I felt I was making an actual difference to their birth experience. Midwifery is the most privileged job in the world, and honestly, I have never looked back or regretted a single moment of my career choice.
Predominantly I have practiced as a core labour ward midwife, with a short period of a dual role in labour ward and community care. Again, the unpredictability of what is coming through the doors and having to snap into action is what drives me. After a very good core grounding on the labour ward, I have been a Labour Ward Coordinator for ten years, overseeing an extremely busy labour ward and maternity unit.
This role keeps me connected with the women, as I still give direct patient care and I have oversight and ensure the clinical and unit safety. My standards are high and I am passionate about teaching and supporting students and newly appointed midwives. Being able to use my time served knowledge and intuition to my clinical practice and the application of this to the standards and guidelines makes me the clinically safe practitioner that I strive to be, my standards are high.
A chance meeting and chat with a legal clerk who worked for a medico-legal Barrister firm, got me thinking that I could be an expert witness. Somek and Associates came up on my search, and I delved deeper into the company and liked their professionalism and support packages, which led to my application and successful appointment.
I have been with Somek and Associates for two years now and have been instructed on many cases.
My first instruction and case report was from 25 years ago. Knowing that I needed to find all the relevant professional and clinical standards filled me with dread. Then I started looking through my cupboards. I did not think I was a hoarder, but clearly, I was! Neatly filed away were all my midwifery notes, UKCC standards, training manuals, and textbooks. The first report was done, and I still must read this frequently for case conferences.
I have written full and limited screening reports and, more recently, Fitness to Practice cases for the NMC. I have been both Claimant and Defendant instructed, and I like the variety of both.
The support from my trainers and the online training provided by Somek and Associates is invaluable. They are always there to ensure my reports make clinical sense and that my reports are robust throughout. They do challenge me, but this is for my benefit further down the line in the legal process.
My relaxation and down time is watching ice hockey, a sport I have travelled the world to watch, having never actually stepped on the ice and I never intend to. I love travelling and will usually be found in places where people ask, ‘where is that?’