Toni Wood
Originally from Merseyside in Liverpool, Toni studied at Barnet General Hospital in London to become a nurse. After qualifying as a nurse, she undertook further training to become a midwife – before she and her husband moved to North Wales. Having retired 3 years ago, Toni chose to return to work 22.5 hours a week, combining her duties as a midwife and working for the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).
Toni states:
"When I first started in my nursing career 40 years ago, you only had to complete a six-week course in college, before you began placements on the wards. I moved around quite a lot in the North London area, before leaving briefly to go travelling. I loved working with women and families and knew that this was the area I wanted to focus my career on. When I met a community midwife through work, I instantly thought to myself, “yes, I want to be you eventually!
"I feel like I became a different person once I put the midwife uniform on and have loved it ever since. I met my husband in 1992, who at the time was studying at the university of Bangor in North Wales. So even though we are both English, we feel fully adopted Welsh and very fortunate to consider Wales our home. We did both try living and working in London, but my husband who worked as a teacher, could not get along with the conditions that came from living in such a big city, which prompted our move to a quieter part of the country.
"There isn’t a history of nursing within my family, my father worked as a schoolteacher and my mother worked in a shop. I did at first consider a career as a social worker, but eventually grew my career plans into nursing and midwifery, as I felt I needed something more challenging.
"At the time, I was fortune enough to approach my career in a different way, as I did not want to work a full-time job with a young family. In 2004 I took a job share role where I worked 18.75 hours a week in North Wales as a community midwife. I stayed in this position for many years and increased to full-time hours when my children got older, before eventually retiring. I had hoped to continue to remain full-time, but due to complications from the Covid 19 virus, I have had to cut back my hours and returned to work clinically for one day a week three years ago.
"I also spend 2 days a week working for the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and have been a representative for many years now. I have always been quite political and interested in advocating for people. It was something I had always been passionate about but had never had the time to properly commit myself to when I was younger. I attended the Bangor University Student Midwife Society Conference and got to tell them about the RCM, what we stand for, and how we are here to help them in their careers.
"I currently do a lot of work with people who have been off on long term sick leave, and who are now starting to go down a pathway where they need some additional support. Many staff come to us for help requesting flexible learning or those who are having challenging work-related issues.
"I’ve loved working in the community so much and how we helped facilitate home births. We can get called out in the middle of the night sometimes, which can be quite daunting, but you know it is going to result in a fantastic outcome. Getting to be there at that special time with the family is something I truly value.
"I love living in North Wales, especially as we have everything here within touching distance. The major city of Manchester is just 50 minutes away, and we have some of the best beaches in the world right on our doorstep. I love the fact that I can finish work on a Friday and be on the coast at a campsite in the mountains within the hour.
"If you are coming from another part of the UK, or even further afar, then it is an incredibly easy transition to come to Wales. It’s a lovely, modern, vibrant and thriving place to live and work. I love the ocean and often go swimming in the sea or take my paddle board out. I think it’s really important to keep both your brain and body active in life, and Wales offers me all the opportunities I need to do that!"