A group of midwives will embark on a four-day charity mission next month to raise money to deliver improved and additional services at their maternity centre.
The medical professionals, based at the Friarage Maternity Centre in Northallerton, will begin an 84-mile trek on September 13 and plan on walking the whole length of the Hadrians Wall Path.
The group, who are part of the South Tees NHS Trust, will set off from Bowness on Solway in Cumbria and will end the challenge in Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend after walking a total of 20 miles per day.
The midwives hope the challenge, which will mark ten years of the Friarage Maternity Centre, will help raise funds for the maternity centre, to improve services, such as postnatal education sessions, support groups and relaxation sessions.
The fundraiser also aims to raise awareness of the Northallerton-based maternity centre and let women and birthing people know that the centre, which includes a freestanding midwife-led birth centre with a birth pool, is available to them.
All of the funds they raise will go towards refurbishing 'The Old Theatre' to create a calm and relaxing space that will allow the centre to offer pregnancy and birth relaxation sessions, antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal education sessions, and postnatal support groups.
One of the midwives taking part in the challenge is Sophia Sheppard, who hopes the challenge will fund the renovations and put the maternity centre 'on the map' for families from the area.
She said: "It felt like a good way to mark ten years of the Friarage Maternity Centre.
"It will hopefully bring more women into the Friarage and signpost that we are here.
"We cover a large area, and if we can let mothers know that we are here - it would be great.
"We strive to empower women and birthing people to have the best possible pregnancy, birth and postnatal experiences - it's about them having a positive experience."
Despite feeling nervous about the challenge, Sophia and the midwife team have been training hard for the challenge, and have embarked on other fundraising challenges individually in the past to raise funds for the NHS and the maternity centre.
The team look forward to hopefully updating the birthing rooms with enhanced equipment to create "calm holistic spaces and a home-from-home environment" such as next-to-me cribs, Bluetooth speakers, mood lighting and soft furnishings.
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According to the team taking part, midwife-led care for low-risk women improves a range of maternal outcomes, reduces the number of interventions in labour and increases satisfaction with care hugely.
Sophia added: "We hope to get a bit of money in to redevelop the centre - improving services and introducing new services is important to us as a team.
"We look forward to seeing what this fundraising challenge brings for the maternity centre."
Ahead of the challenge, the midwives have set up a Just Giving fundraising page, which has so far raised nearly £500; ten per cent of the £5000 the group are targeting for the improvements.
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