A Jewish midwife has won a prestigious award, which she hopes will help enhance the birth experience for Jewish mothers and babies and help combat antisemitism in the NHS.
Laura Godfrey-Isaacs has received the Nicolette Peel Award 2026, a £2,000 grant, which will be used to help create a “digital toolkit”.
“I was incredibly honoured,” said Godfrey-Isaacs, who explained that the toolkit is a set of online resources, including videos and plain language explainers for midwives and maternity staff in all parts of the UK. It will be aimed at helping them better understand Jewish culture and traditions around pregnancy, birth and family life, whether their patients are secular Jews or the most observant.
In her application, Godfrey-Isaacs wrote: “Despite the Jewish community being recognised as both a religious and ethnic group under the Equality Act (2010), there remains very limited structured midwifery education focused specifically on Jewish cultural safety and the impact of antisemitism within healthcare.”
To get more from community, click here to sign up for our free community newsletter.