FEATURE: ‘Inspirational’ mum graduates with midwifery from Salford University

AN ‘INSPIRATIONAL’ mum, who managed a charity alongside her studies, graduated with midwifery from The University of Salford.

Nicolette Peel, from Glossop, is now a qualified midwife at The Royal Oldham Hospital, where she did majority of her training as a student.

She has beaten breast cancer twice, helped to set up the charity Mummy’s Star, in memory of Mair Wallroth, soon before joining The University of Salford.

The mum – of – three set up the charity after she had been diagnosed with breast cancer when her youngest child, Frankie, was a baby.

She was encouraged to start the charity after noticing through her experiences and from other families, that there was not enough support for women who receive a cancer diagnosis postnatal or during pregnancy.

Nicolette said: “I am delighted to have graduated with a first class honours from Salford. Graduation was a lovely day, and it was great to see the rest of my wonderful cohort again. At times it has been a balancing act, and it is thanks to the support of my husband and the lecturers at Salford University, that I have been able to fit everything in.

“I really enjoyed my course because it gave me the opportunity to constantly support women and put in to practice what I had learnt in the classroom. In my final year I had the chance to use the Nursing and Midwifery Simulation Suites. The facilities are very realistic, and I found this helped me a lot when it came to going out on placement. I love my new job; the staff are very supportive, as they were when I trained as a student midwife”.

She is currently running a committee for pregnancy asylum seekers in Greater Manchester. Also, in October she was the first student to be invited to speak on the main stage of the Royal College of Midwives annual conference.

Lisa Bacon, Director of Midwifery, Counselling and Psychotherapy at The University of Salford has said: “I am delighted to see Nicolette graduate. She was an exceptional student, motivated, hardworking and a pivotal member of her group.

“The charity that Nicolette runs offers incredible support to women and their families who are affected by cancer during what should be one of the happiest experiences in their life. While she was at Salford, Nicolette did a brilliant job in chairing the University of Salford midwifery society, in her final year. She is an inspirational woman; The University of Salford is incredibly proud of her. I wish her every success as she embarks on her new career”.