A DONEGAL woman as been named as ‘The Most Inspirational Midwife of 2021’.

Ballyshannon native Teresa McCreery, who works as the Community Midwife Manager at The National Maternity Hospital, has been given the award in recognition of her dedication to community midwifery.

She was announced at the ‘Glocalisation in Healthcare’ event, which was held virtually.

The event was organised and hosted by DCU’s School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health.

“This is an absolute privilege for me and I am honoured to obtain this credit for my work as a midwife,” Teresa said.

“I have to credit Mary Brosnan – our Director of Midwifery and Nursing, our amazing administration team and the current team of midwives. They give so much of themselves to the needs of pregnant, intrapartum and postnatal women who entrust their care to our service.

“I would like to mention all the women who need our support in these very trying times. We, as a profession and indeed as a nation, have to strive for better maternity care services for all.”

Teresa described herself as ‘extremely humbled’ to receive the award and paid tribute to ‘the extraordinary, work of her community midwifery colleagues and administration team’.

Mary Brosnan, Director of Midwifery & Nursing at The NMH, said Teresa was the ‘heartbeat’ 0f of the team, adding: “Her work and dedication to the improvement of maternal care in the community is inspirational; what a joy to see her receive the acknowledgement she so deserves here today.”

The event is seen as a ‘celebration’ of nursing and midwifery and featured contributors from across the world who examined the idea of ‘glocal’ – where global developments impact on the local and in turn the local responses impact globally.