January 27, 2009 London, England…John Surridge/ANN staff
Huedel Morgan-Isaac, a Seventh-day Adventist and a midwife of 28 years, awarded Member of the British Empire, the fifth level of British civilian honor, for Services to Midwifery and Health Care in Wales.
She received the award from Prince Charles during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace late last year.
“He was very personable,” Morgan-Isaac said of the royal encounter. “Although 97 awards were given that day he made me feel special, like I was the only person receiving a medal.”
Morgan-Isaac is an active member of the Cardiff Adventist Church and serves on the denomination's Welsh Mission Executive Committee.
She was nominated for the award by the managers of the Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust and the nomination was then approved by the Welsh Assembly. She currently serves as clinical lead for the Midwifery-led Unit at Llandough Hospital, Cardiff.
Morgan-Isaac left hospital work in 1993 to serve as a community midwife, where she became aware of the difficulties teen mothers faced. She launched an education program for teen mothers in conjunction with a local college in order for them to continue their education.
Though she was busy raising her own kids, Morgan-Isaac taught health educating and parenting for the program. Many of the teens came from dysfunctional backgrounds.
“What I realized was that these children needed parenting themselves,” Morgan-Isaac recalled. “They needed to be taught to look after themselves first, before they could look after their new babies.”
Many participants went on to complete the program and attend the college.
