Kate Middleton.Photo: PA Images
Kate Middletonis asking the big questions.
The interview, which took place in March, was published in the May issue ofNursing Times. Kate even had a hand in selecting the magazine’s cover.
Kate, 39, asked Harriet about why she became a midwife, the role of midwives in Uganda and the increased toll the coronavirus pandemic has had on healthcare workers around the world.
“MILCOT is such a fantastic initiative. Was it your idea?” Kate asked.
“Yes, it was my idea; it was my vision,” Harriet said. “Five years back I worked with an organization taking care of pregnant teenagers in crisis. I was caring for them day and night as a house mother and a midwife. I comforted them because many of them felt stigmatized. Through this, I realized the challenges these girls were going through – I was sharing them.”
She continued, “I would hug a young girl who is facing challenges – she’s crying, she was raped, she’s 10 years old. She’s seeing me as the mother, the sister, as everything – so I was caught up in the pain. I trained them in economic resilience, but that induced me to go back to school to learn how I can solve some of the challenges that they face.”
Kate Middleton.RICHARD POHLE/Getty
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Kate has long been a supporter of midwives. Shewrote a touching letterto the community of midwives following her secret visit to a maternity ward at a London hospital in 2019.
“You are there for women at their most vulnerable; you witness strength, pain and unimaginable joy on a daily basis,” the royal mom of three wrote in a letter that begins “Dear Midwives” and is signed “Catherine.”
She also developed a personal relationship with a midwife who helped welcomePrincess Charlotteinto the world.
Kate Middleton shares an emotional embrace with Professor Dunkley-Bent, who assisted with the delivery of Princess Charlotte.Peter Nicholls-WPA Pool/Getty
Kate, who is patronof theNursing Nowcampaign, haskept in touch with nursesthroughout the pandemic.
Over the last three years more than 31,000 young professionals have signed up for Nursing Now’s Nightingale Challenge, 64 Nursing Now groups have reported increased investment in nursing and there has also been an increase of nurses in leadership positions, as Chief Nursing Officers and on boards, who are able to exercise greater influence in shaping policy and service delivery.
Valerie Middleton (center).Courtesy of the Middleton Family
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Kate has her own family ties to the Red Cross, with both her great-grandmother Olive Middleton and grandmother Valerie Middleton having served as Red Cross nurses during World War I and World War II, respectively.
source: people.com
