A midwife who has delivered hundreds of babies for mothers in the Maldon district is set to retire.

Handing over - midwife Genevieve Rycroft who is retiring from St Peter's Hospital, Maldon Picture: ADRIAN RUSHTON

At least she would if she could.

But Genevieve Rycroft loves her job at St Peter's Hospital so much that she has opted for semi-retirement.

The 62-year-old nurse is working her last shift as a full-time senior midwife at the Maldon hospital today before winding down to retirement by working two or three shifts a week.

She said: "I never counted how many children I delivered but when I began in 1978, we were delivering 500 babies a week.

"Now there are babies I delivered who have grown up and I'm delivering their babies. It's wonderful when they come in and their mothers remember me."

Mrs Rycroft, a mother- of-three, said she is cutting down on work partly because of her age and because she feels it is time to try something else.

Although she has spent most of her time in Maldon, she has also had short spells at Chelmsford's St John's Hospital and Braintree's William Julien Courtauld Hospital.

Published Friday July 30, 2004

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