“Exceptional” student who set up cancer charity after beating the disease graduates
Thursday 8 December 2016
A mum-of -three who juggled running a charity with her studies has graduated in Midwifery from The University of Salford.
Nicolette Peel, from Glossop, is now a midwife at The Royal Oldham Hospital, where she did much of her training as a student.
Nicolette, who has beaten breast cancer twice, helped set up the charity Mummy’s Star, in memory of Mair Wallroth, shortly before enrolling at the University of Salford.
Mummy’s Star is the only charity in the UK and Ireland dedicated to helping women and their families affected by cancer during pregnancy or within a year of a birth.
Nicolette jointly set up the charity after she was diagnosed with breast cancer when her youngest child, Frankie, was a baby.
She was inspired to collaboratively launch the charity after recognising through her own experiences and those of other families that there was a lack of support available for women who receive a cancer diagnosis in pregnancy or postnatally.
Nicolette said: “I am delighted to have graduated with a first class honours from Salford. Graduation was a lovely day, and it was great to see the rest of my wonderful cohort again. At times it has been a balancing act, and it is thanks to the support of my husband and the lecturers at Salford University, that I have been able to fit everything in.
"I really enjoyed my course because it gave me the opportunity to constantly support women and put in to practice what I had learnt in the classroom. In my final year I had the chance to use the Nursing and Midwifery Simulation Suites. The facilities are very realistic, and I found this helped me a lot when it came to going out on placement. I love my new job; the staff are very supportive, as they were when I trained as a student midwife”.
Nicolette is on a steering committee for pregnant asylum seekers in Greater Manchester. Additionally, in October she was the first student ever to be invited to speak on the main stage of the Royal College of Midwives annual conference.
Lisa Bacon, Director of Midwifery, Counseling and Psychotherapy at The University of Salford said:
“I am delighted to see Nicolette graduate. She was an exceptional student, motivated, hardworking and a pivotal member of her group.
“The charity that Nicolette runs offers incredible support to women and their families who are affected by cancer during what should be one of the happiest experiences in their life. While she was at Salford, Nicolette did a brilliant job in chairing the University of Salford midwifery society, in her final year. She is an inspirational woman, and The University of Salford is incredibly proud of her. I wish her every success as she embarks on her new career”.
Nicolette graduated in the School of Nursing, Midwifery, Social Work and Social Sciences ceremony.
Find out more
Victoria Barker
0161 295 4779
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