Twin's emotional reunion with former midwife
Published on 25/08/2022
Decades after former midwife Mary Hawkesford cared for twins born prematurely at 32 weeks, she has had an emotional reunion with one of the sisters.
Mary, now a Sister on Critical Care at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, met recently-qualified doctor Joanna Kondratowicz who was working as a locum.
Joanna and her sister Monika, who has also trained as a doctor, spent 8 weeks in the Neo-natal Unit at Birmingham Women’s Hospital after their birth in 1995. At the time Mary worked in the Unit and spent many shifts caring for the twins.
Mary and her husband Bob, former mortuary manager at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, knew the parents George, who was a pathologist at the QE and his wife Ewa, a now retired GP.
Mary said: “It meant we stayed in touch over the years but rarely met up. We have always been keen to know how the twins were getting on and even though I knew they had trained as doctors never expected that our paths would cross.”
At the end of a long night shift, Mary finally got a chance to meet Joanna who had made sure she arrived early for her shift on the Unit.
“It was amazing and just so emotional. It may sound like a cliché, but it is this sort of thing that makes you realise why I do my job. It makes it all worthwhile. Regardless of how hard my job can be, when something like this happens then it reminds me about why I carry on working.
“Both twins are amazing and beautiful and have worked so hard. I feel very privileged.”
Joanna said: “I was redeployed to the ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic and found out that Mary was also now working in adult intensive care, so I was determined to track her down! It’s a big department so I enlisted the help of some wonderful colleagues, and it was so worth it.
“Being reunited was such an emotional moment – it feels like things have come full circle after being in the Unit across the road 27 years ago. My parents often told me how important Mary’s care was for our recovery, so I owe part of becoming a doctor to her. The department and her patients are so lucky to have her.”
