SISTER Annie Kear of Coleford said a fond farewell to midwifery this Monday as she retired after a total of 40 years in nursing.
The community midwife has brought hundreds of Forest and Wye Valley folk into the world and in the last few years she has even been delivering babies for some of her earlier little arrivals.
"I don't know what I shall do now – it will be something interesting but something I can walk away from saying 'I enjoyed doing that'," she told the Review. "And I might join my husband lawn green bowling."
After training in Rugby, marriage brought her to the Forest and she worked as a nursing sister at Gloucester, Monmouth and in the Dilke.
After gaining her midwifery Part II qualification she became a district nurse and midwife and then exclusively a midwife, covering a wide area with colleague Betty Page of Tutshill.
She said she had seen some changes in midwifery during her time, with the emphasis moving from home deliveries to the Dilke and Lydney hospitals and now, moving back to home deliveries or at least the choice to have a baby at home.
"Their wishes come first," she said. "I liked to explain all the choices available but in the end it's down to what the mother wants."
Staff at Coleford Health Centre where Mrs Kear was based held a farewell party for her on Friday evening.