Those of you watching BBC Northwest news recently, may have heard Steve Walkinshaw, Consultant in Maternity and Fetal medicine, make the comment "That's what we're here for" when quizzed about his major role in a very rare pregnancy success. It made me feel very proud.
He was describing how, working with another Trust, Liverpool Women's had safely steered a pregnant woman, who was on dialysis and in need of a kidney transplant, through a dangerous and rare pregnancy which had resulted in her giving birth to a much wanted daughter.
Being modest about his and his team's efforts is typical of so many of our amazing staff. To our patients and their families, they sometimes seem to be achieving "miracles". But they would probably make the same comment as Steve - "that’s what we’re here for."
Another patient, Rachel Backhouse and her partner Mark Warburton no doubt heard similar sentiments when they thanked our miscarriage experts for their new baby girl, Evie Mai.
Rachel from Runcorn came to us wondering if she would ever be a mother. Vital treatment for a pre-cancerous cervical condition at another hospital had resulted in several distressing miscarriages. But she found new hope in our Miscarriage Clinic - like scores of other women who are coming to us from all over the country for a procedure called a Transabdominal Cerclage. This prevented her losing her baby through a condition known as incompetent cervix.
Now Rachel is looking forward to her best Christmas ever and Evie Mai’s gran, Gill Backhouse, says: "Evie Mai is a miracle child to us. Rachel has been through so much since she developed gynaecological problems at 14. It was a sheer fluke that we heard on the radio about an Open Night at Liverpool Women's where we learned about the pioneering work of the Miscarriage Clinic. Rachel found real hope that the Women's could help her - and they did. Her consultant, Feroza Dawood, and staff who looked after her are incredible."
At this season of hope, I'm grateful that our experts do their utmost to achieve the best possible outcomes for women of all ages, whatever their problems. As Steve said, "that's what we're here for."