A lead bereavement midwife was honoured for her “years of outstanding work” by NHS England.

Trudy Berlet from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust received the gold award from NHS England's chief midwifery officer, professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE.

Trudy - who is currently seconded to the Maternal Mental Health Service - was honoured for her outstanding work dedicated to women and families who have been through maternity bereavement.

The 'Gold Award' is the highest honour of NHS England's National Chief Nursing and Chief Midwifery Officer Awards.

Trudy was selected from a long list of nominations by NHS England's chief midwifery officer, Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, following a nomination by the Trust’s director of midwifery, Justine Jeffery.

The Chief Midwifery Officer awards recognise and celebrate midwives who go above and beyond their roles providing excellent care and inspiration every day to their colleagues, women and families, with the gold award reserved for those who have demonstrated “the highest possible contribution” in their role.

Professor Dunkley-Bent arrived at Worcestershire Royal Hospital to surprise Trudy, where she read out a long list of examples of how Trudy has continued to put patients first.

Professor Dunkley-Bent said: “Trudy has improved the experiences of bereaved families, raised tens of thousands of pounds for additional and upgraded facilities.

“Some of her achievements have been established, organised or attended in her own time which highlights the true passion for her specialism that she demonstrates and the contribution that she makes that goes above and beyond.

“There are not many people that get the gold award.

“I was blown away by Trudy’s citation, it’s one of the best I’ve ever read, so thank you.

“I know that her role is incredibly hard, I’ve lost a baby myself so I know the value of what Trudy does. Trudy, you have gone above and beyond, and that’s why you’ve won this gold award.”

On receiving her award, a humble Trudy said: “There is a whole team behind this, it’s not something I’ve done on my own and it really is a team effort.”

Divisional director for the Women and Children’s Division, Angus Thomson, added: “You bring so much humanity. This is the hardest part of our profession, and no matter how hard we work we can’t take away the tragedy that sometimes happens, but what you do makes it the very best experience possible in the circumstances."

Trudy's award citation has now been submitted for consideration for the Queen's Honours.