Mums and babies from past and present gather at Penrice Birth Centre 50th Anniversary celebrations

Surrounded by bunting personalised by families who have had their babies at Penrice, photos and memorabilia of the birth centre were on display for people to see how much it has changed.

A very special guest was the first lady to have her baby at Penrice 50 years ago, Rose Bale from St Austell. Rose played a key part in the 50th celebrations, unveiling a special plaque marking the milestone in its history.

Rose Bale from St Austell with Gill Wilson, Penrice midwife

Rose has fond memories of having her daughter, Julie at Penrice and remembered when the building was being built. “My husband and I drove past Penrice when I was pregnant, to watch it being built. I jokingly said to him ‘I’m going to be the first one to have my baby there!’” said Rose. “The midwives who looked after me were lovely; I got so much attention, as there wasn’t anyone else for them to look after!”

The open day was well attended by families who have used the services at Penrice over the years, including mum of two, Laura Curwood from St Austell, who had her son, Sebastian at Penrice only five months ago. “Penrice was such a lovely place to give birth, I used their birthing pool and had music playing, it was very relaxing” stated Laura. “The whole experience was great, staff there were so supportive but not intrusive at all. Even when I had problems feeding my first child, Ophelia, staff at Penrice supported me so much that I ended up feeding her a lot longer than I was planning to.”

Cathy Warrick, Chief Executive of Royal College of Midwives was part of the celebrations and listened to women’s experience of having their babies at Penrice.

“It is very interesting coming to Penrice to see how this unit has grown over the years, from being a GP unit to now being a very established and highly regarded unit. It is so wonderful to see how the community around Penrice support the services that are provided here and I am sure this support will continue,” said Cathy.

“It is clear to see the midwives who work here love being part of this team, they are very enthusiastic and love doing what they do.”

The official opening concluded with Rose Bale and Gill Wilson, Penrice’s longest serving midwife and organiser of the anniversary celebrations, cutting a specially made cake featuring Penrice’s logo.

Avril Archibald, community team leader at Penrice was very pleased with how well the open day had gone and how well attended it was.

“We have had an amazing response from the community, as well as colleagues for this anniversary celebration,” said Avril.

“Thank you to everyone who attended and everyone who contributed to the wonderful bunting, which has been the focal point of the day. We are already thinking about where we can put it so it can been enjoyed by those who use our services in the future.”