My CUH Story - Julie Brooker

Julie shared her story with us starting at the ‘old Addenbrooke’s’ site in the centre of Cambridge, to the current location on Hills Road.

I began my CUH journey training to be a nurse at the ‘old Addenbrooke’s’ site in 1980 on the nightingale wards. Living and training in the centre of Cambridge was an amazing experience. During the transition period between the hospital being at the ‘old site’ and where it is today, a mini bus would pick us up from the centre of Cambridge to take us to the ‘new site’.

Between 1982 and 1983, when the Rosie hospital was being built I decided that the new maternity hospital looked like a nice place to work, so in 1985 I became a midwife and I’ve never looked back!

I’m a registered midwife and work as a high risk delivery midwife. This means that I work with women who may need more monitoring than expected, but whose birth is just as special and my goal is to make the birthing journey and experience as enjoyable as possible for them.

I became a member of bank staff 20 years ago. I gave up my role as a sister on the delivery suite but importantly was able to continue working, doing the job I loved, but with some flexibility around my circumstances outside of work. Being a bank midwife works brilliantly for me as I can still do full time hours, I didn’t have a single week off during the COVID-19 pandemic, but work is flexible if I need it to be.

Over the last 42 years, I have delivered thousands of babies, each one has been a privilege to be part of. One of the highlights of my career was being able to deliver the children of one of my best friends, who I had trained with as a nurse and midwife. My friend had her first son 32 years ago and I was honoured to deliver him and subsequently his brother into the world. Over the years I’ve watched as the boys have grown into wonderful young men. When my friend’s first son got married, he and his bride asked if I would deliver their children when the time came, which of course, I promised to do. Then, two years ago, I was able to honour that promise and I delivered their little girl.

Having trained and worked at CUH for so many years, seeing the people there and the incredible work they do, I had an immeasurable amount of trust in the hospital when I unfortunately experienced it from the other side. My son was diagnosed with cancer at 17 years old and spent four years battling his illness. My son lost his fight with cancer when he was 21 but the care and support that both he and our family received from everyone at CUH, especially ward C9 and the Teenage Cancer Trust, was amazing.

I have made lifelong friends during my career at CUH, we even began a reunion with the class I trained with 42 years ago. Just over twenty years ago we decided to hold a reunion and traced roughly half for our class and a few of the lecturers. We meet every five years and this year is our 40 year reunion, delayed two years due to the pandemic. The class come from all over the world and in previous years we’ve toured both the ‘old Addenbrooke’s’ site, and the current one. I can’t wait to meet up again this September.