Midwife, 82, who has delivered babies of babies she's delivered refuses to stop working

Kay Southard began her grooming arsenic a caregiver successful Birmingham successful 1960 and since qualifying has ne'er looked back, helping to unrecorded thousands of babies implicit six decades

When it comes to babies, ­midwife Kay Southard has ever delivered – for the past 64 years. The dedicated carer’s staggering beingness communicative could beryllium a publication from the TV deed Call The Midwife. But it whitethorn beryllium a small excessively feel-good adjacent for the heartwarming deed BBC series.

Kay has helped bring thousands of babies safely into the world and, amazingly, astatine the property of 82, is inactive helping mums. She volunteers astatine her town’s birthing centre and jokes: “I conscionable the ‘babies’ I person delivered having their babies, and the mothers say. ‘You are inactive here’. I spot mums and their grown-up children successful municipality erstwhile I’m shopping. The archetypal babe I delivered was successful 1965 truthful their mums volition beryllium my age. They ever person a catch-up.”

Kay has enactment others archetypal since she was 15 and near location successful Much Marcle, Herefordshire, to assistance attraction for twins whose mum had died. She has been successful employment “non-stop” ever since. She began grooming arsenic a caregiver successful 1960 successful Birmingham connected £2 for a 48-hour week, sharing a level with 3 others. Kay inactive keeps successful interaction with them. After 4 years there, her 48-year full-time vocation arsenic midwife began successful earnest.

She trained successful London and cycled to appointments, conscionable similar characters successful the BBC show, which volition person a Christmas peculiar and is apt to instrumentality for bid 14 successful 2025. “It was conscionable similar Call The Midwife, we did not person immoderate scans. Mums came successful and had twins but we did not cognize that until they arrived. You would beryllium connected your ain connected a bike.

“I’d rhythm astir Clapham, past Wandsworth Prison, astir Balham, I worked astatine St George’s Hospital successful Tooting, we utilized to bash each the stops connected the Northern Line. I’ve delivered for doctors, different midwives, ­ordinary radical mainly, the celebrated ones were successful the backstage units. I indispensable person delivered hundreds and hundreds of babies implicit the years, it volition beryllium thousands really, won’t it?”

Kay qualified successful 1966 and, aft 10 years successful London, moved to High Wycombe, Bucks. She spent the past 27 years of her vocation successful Crowborough, East Sussex, and officially retired 11 years agone astatine 71. She says: “There was nary interruption successful work arsenic I didn’t get married, I didn’t person clip – I was excessively engaged working.”

She inactive does captious enactment arsenic a unpaid 3 days a week astatine Crowborough birthing centre, East Sussex, and pops successful astatine weekends “in lawsuit they request immoderate help”. She passes connected her cognition to midwife recruits and adjacent guided an expectant mum who was successful labour “on the doorstep”.

She says: “I bash breastfeeding guidance, get their notes ready, cleanable up connected the labour wards, bash beverage and toast for the mums and adjacent the dads connected the birthing unit. I volition support connected going arsenic agelong arsenic I bask it. I spot aged colleagues and conscionable up for luncheon and astatine Christmas. I cognize 64 years successful the NHS is simply a agelong time, but I don’t deliberation astir it really. I conscionable emotion it, I americium conscionable cracking on.”

And, for a spot of relaxation, she opens her laptop for a melodramatic stroll down representation lane with Call The Midwife. She says: “I bash emotion to ticker it.” Perhaps surprisingly, an adjacent older pistillate is inactive caring for patients. At 84, Daisy Richards is believed to beryllium Britain’s oldest moving nurse.

Daisy worked successful a Surrey infirmary earlier moving to Bangor Hospital successful North Wales successful the 1970s. She became a territory caregiver and midwife connected the Isle of Anglesey successful 1976. She won bronze astatine this month’s Wales Care Awards successful the outstanding work class and golden successful dignity successful care.