A Midwife plans to deliver a boost for families by swimming five kilometres in open water with her two sisters to raise money for the Delivery Suite at Walsall Manor Hospital.

Rhoda, Consultant Midwife at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Laura and Carla Flynn will be swimming the equivalent of 200 lengths of Lake Windermere on 13 June.  

The money raised will go towards renovating two birth rooms on the Delivery Suite.  

Rhoda said: “When a woman is in labour it is important that she is in a relaxing, calm environment to help support her changing hormones.  

“Having a room that looks less medical where a woman feels safe really makes a difference when it comes to labour.”

All three sisters are trained, competitive swimmers after their dad Carl Flynn introduced them to the sport. He went on to train as a swimming coach and has been at the City of Birmingham Club for 45 years.

Rhoda said: “I swam a couple of kilometres in Lake Windermere 15 years ago but this will be a big challenge.

“Open water swimming is so good for you, but it is very cold and also harder to navigate. You can get very disorientated,

“I have always loved swimming, and I am looking forward to taking on the challenge with my sisters.

“Training is about to get underway, so I will start in the pool and then practice in a local lake when the weather gets better, there is a time limit of two hours so I will need to be fast.” 

The money raised will go toward new facilities on Walsall Manor’s Delivery Suite, including new birthing pools and adjustable lighting. 

Rhoda added: “If you can spare any money, please support us to make the experiences of all our women a better one.

“At Walsall, we recently relocated our Midwifery-Led Unit (MLU) into the hospital and this environment is homelike and calm. The rooms have birthing pools and adjustable lights, the feedback is always positive.  

“Not all women are eligible for this unit, however, this is either because of complications experienced previously or evolving problems or chance of problems in the current pregnancy so some women have to go on to the Delivery Suite. 

“If we can create an MLU-like environment on the Delivery Suite all women can have access to a birth pool.”

Georgie Westley, Fundraising Manager, said: “It was great to see how the MLU rooms turned out following support from the charity and it would be good if we could replicate the feel of the MLU on our Delivery Suite. 

“We are totally behind Rhoda and her sisters and we’ll look at ways to help them achieve their aim.  If this is something you would like to get involved in and help fundraise, please get in touch via Georgie.westley@nhs.net

To donate, go to https://www.justgiving.com/page/rhoda-flynn-1?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL