Meet Kathleen the record-breaking midwife who’s delivered the most babies in Britain

Her safe hands have carefully delivered more than 7,000 babies, but now magnificent midwife Kathleen McSherry has retired after years of hard labour.

Colleagues believe the 66-year-old has delivered more babies than any other midwife in Britain in a career spanning six decades.

“It’s been a labour of love,” she insists. “Every delivery has been a very special moment for me.

“Bringing a new life into the world is the best job in the world. The sheer joy of being at a family’s happiest moment is truly wonderful. I’ll miss it so much.”

Kathleen’s career was spent in the bustling maternity wards of three busy Glasgow hospitals Stobhill, The Queen Mother’s and the Southern General.

A dad of a tot she delivered worked out she must have eased more than 7,000 babies into the world based on the fact she’s delivered three babies per shift on average. Fellow midwives agree they are unaware of anyone who has helped deliver so many babies.

Now that she’s hung up her apron, a Facebook page honouring her career has been set up, with generations of families she’s helped posting heartwarming messages on it.

Her daughter Ashley, who set up the page, said: “She has enjoyed every one of her days working to deliver babies and we are all very proud of her service to the NHS.

“I think she will miss it so much now she’s retired.”

The mum-of-four and gran-of-five from Faifley, West Dunbartonshire, has enjoyed a career which mirrors her favourite TV programme, Call The Midwife.

She began her training in 1966 aged just 17, after working as a sales assistant in the former Glen’s department store in Glasgow. During her career there has never been a dull moment. She has assisted at the births of two babies born in hospital car parks and has even had two children named after her.

“It’s a lovely compliment and one that midwives love,” Kathleen said. She’s delivered too many twins to mention and has also delivered countless children and grandchildren of the children she’s brought into the world.

“You can plan to have your baby in hospital but they often have minds of their own and arrive at the least expected time,” she said. “They set the agenda and there is little you can do when a determined baby decides it’s time to be born.”

She also had a surprise delivery of her own, which saw her advise husband Jim, 67, a retired firefighter, when their daughter Ashley was born.

“It was five in the morning when I woke up in labour and Jim ushered our older kids, Pauline, then nine, Paul, seven, and Ashley two, into the kitchen with breakfast cereal and told them to stay there,” she remembers.

“I knew this baby wasn’t waiting, so we called an ambulance hoping I would make it to the Queen Mother’s Hospital about four miles away. It was a blizzard outside and I hoped it would arrive in time.

“The midwife flying squad was also called but our wee girl arrived before they got here and Jim had to do the honours.

“I was at one end issuing instructions to Jim, hoping all was going well down at his end. Being a midwife helped, as did having four babies previously!”

The most magical moment of her career was being at the delivery of two grandchildren.

Her daughters Pauline, now 44, and Ashley, 35, wanted their mum by their sides as they gave birth.

“Pauline had a wee boy, Dale, in 1994, and it was magic supporting her throughout the labour,” Kathleen remembers. “I was thrilled being allowed to assist my second daughter, Ashley’s wee boy, Matthew, into the world in 2009.

“I put my hands on her baby when he came out and broke the news to my daughters both times that they’d had boys. You worry so much more when your daughter is pregnant and in labour. That’s mainly because you know what mums have to endure.

“People say it’s just childbirth but they don’t call it labour for nothing. It’s exhausting and takes women to the limit of endurance.”

But being a midwife has brought heartache too.

“The saddest have been couples who lost babies after years of trying,” she adds. “Your heart goes out to them. It is the hardest challenge for any midwife.”

All change since her early days

CHILDBIRTH has changed hugely since Kathleen started as a new midwife in 1966. She smiles as she admits her early days delivering bundles of joy are mirrored in the true-to-life Call The Midwife series.

Heavily-starched uniforms were the order of the day back then. Midwives feared the wrath of matrons.

“There were a few like the old screen matron, Hattie Jacques,” she smiled. “Woe betide anyone who was caught without their regulation hat or nurse’s cap on.”

Dads were barred from childbirth back then for fear that they would get in the way or be scared by the process. They were only allowed to be present from the mid-1970s. Hi-tech monitors were years away from being introduced and unborn babies were tracked by midwives’ listening trumpets called pinards.

Now birthing pools, sophisticated labour monitors, 3D scans, antenatal classes and hands-on dads are encouraged.

“Dads are a welcome boost to today’s labour suite because most really support their partners,” Kathleen adds. “But some think it’s them that they’re having the baby.

“They go through it with their partners saying they have had a sore back all through the labour.”

In 1966, almost 40% of babies were born at home. Today that has dropped to less than 3%.

“More mums can expect a lot more pain relief than their mums,” Kathleen says. “To be honest, that’s a welcome relief for mums and midwives.”