This event opened with congratulatory video messages from WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom and Professor Fran McConville (WHO Midwife Advisor and QUB Honorary Professor).  Professor McConville also provided highlights from the State of the World Midwifery Report 2021.

“Sure you were only a baby” I’ll tell her when she asks,
About that time in photographs when everyone wore masks.
“You don’t remember the chaos when the world was forced to rest.”
“You had all you needed in my arms and at my breast” 

“You never even noticed” I’ll tell her then I’ll say,
“I held you as the weeks went by, we took it day by day”
“We were safe and happy, right where we needed to be”.
“I fed you snuggled in my arms, protecting you was key”.

“You were only a tiny baby” I’ll tell her and explain,
Why so many people were afraid, anxious and in pain.
“It wasn’t always easy, those isolating newborn days,
But feeding you flooded me with love, got me through the haze”.

“You were a lockdown baby” I’ll tell her when it’s time,
“I was your whole world back then, just as you were mine”,
“And now, though it’s just a memory, I still smile when I see,
A rainbow in a window, put there for you and me.”