UHNM midwife reflects on making history with the Royal Navy 30 years ago

A midwife at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) has reflected on her remarkable Royal Navy career, 30 years after she became one of the first women to stand guard at the Cenotaph.

Claire Hill, Lead Governance Midwife at UHNM, joined the Royal Navy aged 18 in January 1991, at a historic time when women were first being given the opportunity to serve at sea.

Originally joining as a general and tactical communicator, working as a radio operator, Claire completed her basic training at HMS Raleigh before going on to serve at sea, including with HMS Ark Royal and HMS Liverpool. 

Claire said: “We were the first women at sea. It was a very difficult time for us to be accepted because for centuries women hadn’t gone to sea. It was a huge change in tradition and we were right at the beginning of that change.”

Claire later transferred to the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service where she became a medical assistant and in 1996 and she was called forward to take part in guard duties at the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in London, where she was part of the first cohort of women to do so. 

To mark three decades since the occasion, Claire returned to the Cenotaph this year for Remembrance Sunday alongside other former Royal Naval personnel. 

Claire said: "It was an honour when we were asked to provide guard service at the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph, which was also a first for women. Even though it was 30 years ago it still seems like yesterday. I felt really emotional going back all these years later for the annual service."

Claire left the Royal Navy in 1998 after almost eight years of service and following the birth of her child, she decided to pursue a career in midwifery, joining UHNM in January 2008 and has worked at the Trust ever since. 

Claire added: "I absolutely love being a midwife at UHNM, we have such a diverse range of people here and being in the Navy and working predominantly with men made me realise that I wanted to advocate for women and being a midwife gives me that opportunity."