Staff first as Maternity hosts Eid celebrations

Date of release: 10 May 2023

Maternity and Neonatal colleagues at New Cross Hospital greeted a new arrival – their first staff celebration of Eid-al-Fitr.

Around 40 colleagues from several departments including Housekeeping, Support Workers, the Safeguarding Team and the Research Team, along with Specialist Midwives, joined Maternity and Neonatal staff in the Maternity basement to tuck into Asian food, fruit and sweet treats.

Eid al-Fitr, or Eid, marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, when many Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset each day.

Meaning “festival of the breaking of the fast”, Eid begins the day after Ramadan ends. It is traditionally marked with a special meal – which for many Muslims is the first daytime meal they’ve eaten in a month.

The Maternity department at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) funded the Ramadan boxes and the Eid celebration was paid for by Doctors, Midwives and Sunita Banga, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead (EDI) Midwife.

Work commitments prevented all staff from joining in, so the remaining food was distributed to the ward and Delivery Suite for the night staff to enjoy.

Sunita said: “There was a wide variety of Asian foods which lots of staff enjoyed for the first time. This is the first time Maternity has held an Eid celebration and there was good representation from all departments.

“It was great to see the multi-cultural food and snacks being enjoyed by our staff, some of whom had never tried some those options before and they enjoyed trying new things.

“I’m keen to celebrate our staff diversity within Maternity and I feel really proud at how everyone came together to contribute to – or celebrate – Eid. All Maternity staff were welcomed and the food was well received by everybody.”

Sunita added: “It was important for us on Maternity to show our Muslim colleagues that we support them while they are fasting as it must be challenging to work at your full capacity while fasting.

“Ramadan and Eid are significant parts of Islam as a faith and it was a pleasure to be able to mark this special time and occasion for staff to help them feel valued and show we care.”

Ellmina McKenzie, Research Midwife, said: “I was invited by Sunita to attend and it was clear to see just how much hard work and effort she put into organising it. It was lovely celebrating this memorable occasion with a diverse range of staff members.”

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Notes to Editors

• For more information, please contact Tim Nash on 07714 741097 or email  tim.nash2@nhs.net