A MIDDLESEX University midwifery lecturer has been awarded a prestigious Fellowship from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).

Sarah Chitongo is  one of only 12 midwives in the UK to have been honoured with an RCM Fellowship.

The award was given in recognition of her work highlighting the high number of deaths among  Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority (BAME) women during labour and for pioneering the use of augmented reality technology in midwifery training.

The work Sarah is doing saves lives. Tackling the inequalities that lead to BAME mothers and babies doing less well than non BAME women is critical.

Gill Walton, RCM Chief Executive 

Last year Chitongo won the Mary Seacole Award for research which found 40% of all direct maternal deaths occurred in women from BAME groups, which is five times higher than white British women.

Gill Walton, RCM Chief Executive said: “The work Sarah is doing saves lives. Tackling the inequalities that lead to BAME mothers and babies doing less well than non BAME women is critical.” 

Great honour

Chitongo, who hails from Zimbabwe described the RCM Fellowship award as a “great honour” and said she was “delighted for the recognition”.

The Middlesex University lecturer is also a Queen’s Nurse, the only midwife to have received and is a Specialist Advisor to the American Pregnancy Association.

Gill Walton, RCM Chief Executive, said: “The work Sarah is doing saves lives.

“Tackling the inequalities that lead to BAME mothers and babies doing less well than non BAME women is critical. In this the International Year of the Midwife she is showing the qualities of leadership, innovation and commitment that are a shining example to us all.”

Chitongo earned a BSc in Midwifery from Middlesex University before returning a number of years later to work as a Midwifery Educator and Clinical Skills Manager.

Previously she was an Acting Deputy Head of Midwifery at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Kent.