A mum-of-two is encouraging people to follow their dreams after achieving her ambition of becoming a midwife and completing a life-changing volunteering placement at one of Thailand’s biggest maternity hospitals.

Ozden ‘Ozy’ Cansfield, 36, from Backford, has started her dream job at Wirral Women and Children’s Hospital after successfully juggling four years of intensive studies with caring for two young children.

Ozy first realised her passion for midwifery after witnessing the birth of her niece in 2003. After many years working as cabin crew for Virgin Airlines, in 2012 she finally took the brave decision to quit her comfortable career and return to education in the hope of turning her long-held dream into reality.

Having completed a foundation course to obtain the qualifications she needed to get into university, Ozy started a midwifery degree with the University of Chester, which included ‘on the job’ training with Wirral University Teaching Hospital.

Her hard work eventually paid off and after graduating with a 2:1 degree, Ozy and a fellow student set off on a trip of a lifetime where they spent 15 days volunteering at a hospital near Bangkok.

Ozden Ozy Cansfield, 36, from Backford in Chester swaddles a newborn baby in Thailand

Ozy explained: “Having been fortunate enough to have had an amazing training experience at Wirral Women and Children’s Hospital, I wanted to expand my horizons by seeing a different approach to midwifery. It was an eye-opening, rewarding and unforgettable time that I will never forget and it really made me appreciate how lucky we are to have our amazing NHS.

“Things are done very differently in Thailand and maternity services are much less developed than they are in the UK. Their care was much less personalised with the same process being followed for all women.

“The hospital had only recently started allowing dads into the delivery room and after being born, babies were placed in shared cots in a separate nursery away from their mothers as opposed to having the skin to skin contact that we strongly encourage in this country.

“However, breastfeeding rates are much higher in Thailand and the passion and dedication I witnessed among many of their doctors and midwives was just as strong as that of my colleagues here in Wirral.

“One amazing midwife had only recently had a child herself and I was overwhelmed to see her rushing to express breast milk for her own baby in between delivering other women’s babies!”

Ozden Ozy Cansfield with a fellow student midwife outside the Thai maternity hospital where she volunteered for 15 days

Ozy applied to be a midwife at Wirral Women and Children’s Hospital as soon as she completed her degree and was overjoyed to be offered her first midwifery job, which she started in January.

She said: “I am so excited to finally be working as a midwife and hope that my journey will inspire anyone hesitating about changing direction. The support I received from the trust throughout all of my training was fantastic; so much so that I never even applied to work anywhere else!

“It was hard work and I sometimes questioned if I could balance my studies with the needs of my family. However, friends, relatives, tutors and hospital colleagues consistently helped me to believe in myself.

“Seeing my niece being born all those years ago was such a defining moment and 14 years on I am so proud to be earning a living from supporting women and their families at such an important time of their lives.

“Thanks to a bit of determination and a very encouraging husband, I like to think that I’ve shown my children that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.”