Princess Royal meets future midwives at Queen’s Belfast training centre
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal attended the School of Nursing & Midwifery at Queen's University Belfast on Wednesday where she met with midwifery students, lecturers and midwives.
Student midwives preparing to care for women and babies across Northern Ireland have shown The Princess Royal how simulated practice helps them build clinical skills and confidence before facing the demands of maternity care.
Princess Anne met students, lecturers and midwives at Queen’s University Belfast on Wednesday 16 September during a visit in her role as Patron of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).
Queen’s is Northern Ireland’s sole provider of undergraduate midwifery education. The visit highlighted how students learn to make clinical decisions and provide compassionate care in a safe, guided environment.
A safe space to develop clinical skills
The Princess toured the KN Cheung SK Chin InterSim Centre, where simulation allows healthcare students to develop practical skills and learn to work together.
Midwifery student Abi Sharpe described the difference that experience had made to her training.
She said:
“Simulated practice has been invaluable throughout my midwifery training, giving me a safe space to build my clinical skills, confidence and decision-making. For me, it has reinforced the importance of providing compassionate, evidence-based and individualised support to every family. So, to have the opportunity to showcase this to The Princess Royal today was an amazing experience for all the students involved.”
Preparing Northern Ireland’s future healthcare workforce
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited the KN Cheung SK Chin InterSim Centre, with the tour concluding with an unvieling of a plaque.
The visit comes as the School of Nursing & Midwifery approaches 30 years since nursing and midwifery education was introduced at the university.
Professor Sir Ian Greer, President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s, welcomed The Princess to the Medical Biology Centre. He said around 550 students graduate from the School of Nursing & Midwifery each year, with almost 3,000 graduating over the past five years. Those figures cover the school as a whole.
He said:
“As Northern Ireland’s sole provider of undergraduate midwifery education, Queen’s is proud of its strong partnerships with key stakeholders, including the RCM. Therefore, it was an absolute pleasure to welcome Her Royal Highness to campus today and to highlight our ongoing commitment to preparing the healthcare workforce of the future.”
Supporting women and families
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited the KN Cheung SK Chin InterSim Centre, Queen's University Belfast.
Professor Kenda Crozier, Head of the School of Nursing & Midwifery and Professor of Midwifery, led the tour and linked the training on display to the care families receive.
She said:
“Today was a particularly special opportunity for the School of Nursing & Midwifery at Queen’s to highlight our commitment to research and education that contributes to ensuring that women and families across Northern Ireland receive high-quality maternity care.”
Professor Crozier also highlighted the school’s Athena SWAN Gold Award for gender equality and its UNICEF Gold Award Baby-Friendly Initiative, which supports breastfeeding.
Recognition for student midwives
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal attended the School of Nursing & Midwifery at Queen's University Belfast on Wednesday where she met with midwifery students, lecturers and midwives.
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal was greeted by Professor Sir Ian Greer, President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast
Representatives of the Royal College of Midwives joined the visit, including its Northern Ireland director, Dr Dale Spence, who praised the university’s student midwifery community.
Dr Spence said: “The community of student midwives at the university is outstanding, and Queen’s University Belfast Midwifery Society was a very deserving winner at the RCM Awards earlier this year. There’s a lot to celebrate at Queen’s, including the next generation of midwives coming through, and today was a great opportunity to do just that.”
The visit concluded with The Princess unveiling a plaque at the InterSim Centre. For the students who demonstrated their training, the skills being developed there will underpin their future work supporting women, babies and families across Northern Ireland.
