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Midwife retires after more than 1,000 births
A MIDWIFE from Berkhamsted who has delivered 1,000 babies has retired.
Dorothy Norman has welcomed newborns into the world for more than three decades at Hemel Hempstead Hospital and Watford General, the closed St Paul's Hospital and in the Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead communities.
The 60-year-old celebrated her retirement with a long holiday in the Bahamas to visit her parents and 13 siblings.
She cites her big family as her inspiration for becoming a midwife.
Dorothy, a mother-of-two, from Ashlyns Road, first worked in a hospital in her teens and British nurses urged her to take up midwifery training in England.
She came to Hertfordshire in 1975 and claims to have never grown tired of her job.
She said: "I enjoyed it every time I delivered a baby. Every one of them was an individual. I'm sad to give it up."
Dorothy says she would be happy to go back to work but has taken retirement to spend more time with her family, both in Berkhamsted and the Bahamas.
She said: "I want to have the time to see more of my mother. And more of my family here.
"As a midwife, it's not just you who's working, it's your family. I've had to work on their birthdays and at times left my husband holding our babies while I delivered other people's!"
Her former colleague, June Cox, said: "Dorothy never lost her enthusiasm and she never slowed down even though it is quite a demanding job.
"It is more than a job for her and her retirement is a bit of an end of an era and she shall be greatly missed and very hard to replace."
Much loved Dorothy said farewell to her colleagues at a huge party before she jetted off on her well deserved holiday.
More than 100 people turned out to say goodbye at Hemel Hempstead Hospital's Post-Graduate Centre.
Were you one of Dorothy's babies or mums? If you'd like to wiah her a happy retirement on site, just click below
Where you one of Dorothy's mums or babies? CLICK HERE to send a happy retirement message to Dorothy
To see messages posted for Dorothy, CLICK HERE
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Weather for Hemel Hempstead
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -8 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to 1 C
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