Claire came to midwifery as a second career having worked for more than ten years in Advertising as an Account Director at various London agencies. Her first degree was in Portuguese and English, from King’s College London.

Whilst at home with her two small daughters she did some voluntary work as Chair of the local NCT Branch and then Chair of the MSLC. In 2003 she qualified as a midwife having undertaken practice placements at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital; she stayed there for 6 years, eventually holding the operational post of Service Manager for Maternity at the recently merged Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. During that time, she was an RCM Steward, an active member of staff side, and Trust TU lead for Improving Working Lives. She also sat on the DoH Recruitment and Retention in Midwifery Workstream for Education. Whilst at Imperial, she undertook a Masters in Healthcare Management at the University of Surrey, gaining a Distinction.

A return to clinical work beckoned and she joined her local Trust, Ealing Hospital, as a Community Team Leader. Following a year’s secondment to the RCM as Regional Officer covering the South East region, she joined the RCM substantively in June 2011.