Two midwives from Swansea worked alongside each other for more than six years before they realised they had a special connection that went back decades. Sharon Cooling, who retired after nearly 50 years of service, had been working with another midwife, Katie Wintle, since 2016.
However, neither of the pair realised that they had a connection that went back decades and extended beyond their workplace. It changed when Katie herself got pregnant, and discovered that it was Sharon who had helped bring her into the world.
Katie, 29, said: “I had worked with Sharon for so long, learning so much from her all the while, we didn’t know our special past. Now we’ve found this out, it means so much to both of us.”
Katie, who initially studied law, now serves as a midwife sonographer, as she loved to care for people and wanted to make a career out of it. She then trained as a midwife in Bournemouth before making the move to Swansea to work in Singleton Hospital in 2016. For the latest Swansea news, sign up to our newsletter here
After joining Singleton Hospital, Katie worked alongside Sharon on the labour ward, and said that she was able to learn a lot from the senior midwife during this time. Katie said: “I learned so much from Sharon, she is such an icon.
Sharon holding Katie after she was born.
(Image: Swansea University Health Board)
“If you want to know something or needed help on the ward, she was the person to go to. Everything is in line, and she does everything by the book”
Sharon’s NHS career started in 1975 when she was 17, after which she went on to train as a midwife in 1984, and qualified in 1986. She worked in the Swansea Bay area ever since and retired from the Swansea University Health Board recently following nearly 49 years of service.
Katie made the incredible discovery about her connection with Sharon while she was pregnant with her son Luca. Katie discovered that Sharon was midwife to her mother Sally while she and her family were reminiscing with old photographs of the day she was born.
They chanced upon a photograph of Sharon holding Katie after she was born and instantly recognised her. She said: “I immediately knew who that was. Straight away I knew it was Sharon.”
Sharon holding a copy of the picture taken after Katie’s birth.
(Image: Swansea University Health Board)
In another surprising turn of events, Sharon already had a copy of the photograph. Katie’s mother, Sally had sent a copy to Sharon after Katie’s birth, which Sharon had kept carefully stored with her.
Sharon explained: “As soon as I saw the photograph, I instantly recognised it and pulled out my copy. I have a box of things that women have given to me over years. I remember the day Katie was born, the room we were in and her parents really clearly.
“I was very surprised to learn this after working together for so long. It’s not every day that you come across someone who pursued the same career as you, and that you were there when they were born.”