Joanne Gorman

Qualifications 

BSc (Hons) Midwifery, BA (Hons) Sociology & Social Policy

Specialisms 

• Hospital Midwifery
• High Risk Antenatal/Postnatal care
• CTG Monitoring
• Theatre
• ENS Cases

Introduction 

Since qualifying as a Midwife in 2008, my career has been hospital based where I have provided care to high risk women with complex pregnancies. Currently I work between the labour ward and the ante and postnatal wards. I also care for women undergoing induction of labour and work as a core member of the maternity triage team. I provide care in labour, which involves the interpretation of CTG monitoring and making appropriate referral and escalation. I am experienced in caring for women with epidural analgesia and with complex conditions such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. I work as part of a multi disciplinary team including obstetricians, paediatricians and anaesthetists.

I have extensive experience of Obstetric theatre. I scrub for trials of instrumental deliveries, elective and emergency Caesarean sections. This involves ensuring the sterility of the instruments and aseptic procedures and also ensuring that the count of instruments, swabs and sharps are correct during and following the procedure. I regularly undertake perineal suturing, venous cannulation and venepuncture and regularly care for high-risk babies on the postnatal ward including those that are undergoing phototherapy to treat jaundice, those that are reluctant to feed and those that are undergoing regular observations. In addition, I allocate work on the ante and postnatal ward, take charge of the ward and am responsible for the support, supervision and mentoring of junior staff and student midwives.

I also have an interest in public health, which includes smoking cessation in pregnancy, advising postnatal women on contraceptive choices to ensure appropriate pregnancy spacing and in infant feeding to ensure that breastfeeding is supported when a woman chooses this. I have undertaken a five-month secondment role as a Safety Lead Midwife. This involved supporting the enablement of key safety improvement initiatives across maternity and neonatal services. This involved conducting audits of patient care records, delivering evidence based training to midwives and other members of the multi-disciplinary team and playing a large role in the implementation of recommendations from national initiatives such as the Saving Babies Lives care bundle and the recommendations made in the Ockenden report. I have spent twelve months working as the equality, diversity and inclusion lead midwife within my employing Trust. This involves attending the Trust wide EDI service delivery group meetings and disseminating the most recent updates from within the Trust to my department. I am also involved in supporting staff members from black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups, those from the LGBTQIA+ community and those with long term health or medical conditions including neurodiversity, within the workplace. This role also includes work to reduce the inequalities and adverse outcomes experienced by BAME woman and their babies within maternity services.

I have undertaken medico-legal training on the NHSR Early Notification Scheme and I am in a position to assist with casework of this nature. I accept instructions from both claimant and defendant solicitors and insurers. I have undergone formal training in the medico-legal process and am fully aware of my responsibilities under Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) pertaining to expert witnesses.