From witnessing her daughter’s high-risk pregnancy and the extraordinary care provided by midwives and neonatal teams, to overcoming personal loss, cancer, and neurodiversity-related challenges, this is the story of Sheila Gregory’s determination to fulfil her ambition of becoming a registered midwife. Spanning six years of resilience, setbacks and achievement, her journey highlights the dedication, compassion and perseverance that continue to shape the future of midwifery.
It all started back in 2018, when my eldest daughter found out she was pregnant and had a Giant Cell Tumour growing in her sacrum too. She was in immense pain, staying in an orthopaedic hospital, until one weekend a consultant came to see her to talk about transferring her to a different hospital to care for her and the needs of her unborn baby. As up to this point, the surgeons and consultants wanted to terminate the pregnancy to operate and remove the tumour, let’s not forget she had already had 5 miscarriages.
My son-in-law and I stayed in the hospital with her as a form of comfort for her; she suffered not only with the pain, but with her mental health. At 30 weeks, a decision was made for a caesarean section as there wasn’t enough room for the baby to grow, as the tumour was growing at the same rate as the baby. The baby arrived and was transferred to the NICU, where he stayed for 3 months. The care, compassion, and overall commitment shown towards the family were among the main reasons I chose to begin my journey to become a registered, qualified midwife.
At this stage in my life, I was working for a cancer charity where I had been for 13 years. Decided to look into becoming a midwife, so I signed up for the Nursing, Midwifery & Health Care Access to HE Diploma at Harlow College. I also had to do Maths and English to gain enough UCAS points for university. COVID hit, and I was now learning and studying at home. I had several interviews with different universities and decided on Middlesex University because they had VR and Lucinda with AI technology.
Over the years, as a student midwife, I thrived on placements; the most enjoyable part of my role was facilitating births. Things soon came to a head when I failed an assignment and was asked if I had even been tested for dyslexia. I then paid privately, as there were no funds through the university for testing. The diagnoses came back as ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia. I would need to resit the papers I had failed. This was affecting my mental health, as soon after my mother passed away, the university gave me time to deal with her funeral and her estate.
During my time out, I worked for a different Trust as a maternity care assistant to keep myself occupied and within the maternity care setting. My time out was soon extended as I was diagnosed with cancer, needing surgery and treatment. Two years out and fully recovered, I decided to come back and finish my degree. During which I had to cover learning the NIPE module as an added proficiency. During that time, I applied for the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), which was granted after I submitted further papers, but I then failed them, so I had to repeat the following year. All in all, it has taken me six years to become a fully qualified, now registered midwife.
I have also been working on New Skills Academy, furthering my knowledge of the ADHD Awareness Diploma, Dyslexia Diploma, Mindfulness Diploma, Interview Skills and CV Writing Certificate. On September 21st, I am starting a Counselling Course at Harlow College, as I am passionate about helping women and believe this will be an added asset to my job as a newly qualified midwife. A journey I wasn’t sure I would ever finish, with all the hurdles I had overcome, I am now actively looking for work as a newly qualified registered midwife.
Sheila Gregory, Newly Qualified Midwife
May 2026