Here's to the team

I've got teams that are transient and others that are permanent, and they ebb and flow, and interlink. There's the life guru, who is now a permanent feature of a very important team, and Team C, a motley crew of the most loving and mouthy and determined women that I've ever met. They've had the tears and tantrums, the heartache, they've seen me at my best and cried with me at my worst, they've experienced me wailing and sobbing along to a recording of an Adele concert after wine and a tough day. There's team awesome who keeps me on track, listens to my crazy and keeps me grounded, the team who gets it. There's the team who kept me safe and who always believed in me.

There's the team of midwives I work with every day, the work family that have my back in absolutely every situation. That particular team shifts and changes every day, but they are there nonetheless and I love going to work because of them. This week I had a situation at work that changed in the blink of an eye and required a very fast transfer to theatre from where we were. The team of midwives and doctors were largely new to me, but they scooped me up and went into action like a very well-oiled machine. I felt safe and supported and I knew we were in the best possible place. I am so grateful to that team as they checked I was OK, and they didn't leave me to flounder on my own. Then there was the team I went back to after that emergency, the team I had been working with all day, the team who gave me a hug and asked me how I was doing.

There's the team I create with the woman and her family. “Don't leave me” was shouted at me by the woman as we rushed her to where she needed to be. I didn't leave her. We held hands as she shimmied across to a new bed, and continued to do so while someone else inserted a cannula. She gave birth while gripping both of my forearms in her hands and staring into my eyes. It was the most intense birth of my career so far. That team was transient too, but it was as important as the connections I've made that last longer. She was no less important to me than the woman I have been caring for antenatally, the woman I have sat with for appointments on end holding her hand and reassuring her, giving her the tools she needs to get to where she wants to be. The team that day was short-lived, but it was intense and important and necessary. It was genuine.

I've found that there is nothing better than being surrounded by people who are rooting for me, and the moment in my training that I caved into the power of the team was momentous. Accepting the team changed my life, so here's to the team... and here's to annual leave.