EAST Lancashire midwives have taken a delivery of their own on the red carpet at London's Savoy.

Anne Edington, who works at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn, has been named Midwife of the Year by the British Journal of Midwifery for her outstanding dedication and commitment to the care of mother and baby. And eight Pendle midwives have been awarded Team of the Year.

All nine were invited to a glittering awards ceremony at the top London hotel where they found out they were officially the best in the country.

Linda Arnold nominated the Pendle community midwife team because of the wide variety of projects they work on.

Linda, who has been a midwife for 21 years, said: "We were thrilled and excited to attend the awards ceremony and it was very emotional. We had an amazing evening with dinner and champagne and everyone was made to feel very comfortable. The team fully deserves this award."

The Pendle midwives' work includes developing a community drop-in clinic, parent craft and aqua-natal classes, a teenage pregnancy group, a home birth service and help for mothers who want to give up smoking.

One of the midwives, Bernadette Seedall, is funded by the government's SureStart programme set up to help young families. And they have recently been training mothers to support others in breast feeding.

Anne was nominated by a colleague and a mother helped by her for developing the Antenatal Day Unit where staff care for women with problems in early pregnancy. Fewer women now have to be admitted to hospital thanks to the unit's work.

During her acceptance speech, Anne said the mother who nominated her had sent her a thank you card for the care she had received following the loss of her baby. Anne said when she received the card she knew she had a "special job".

East Lancashire NHS Trust acting chief executive Richard Gildert said: "I am very proud that midwives from the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust have achieved an amazing two out of four British Journal of Midwifery Awards.

"This is a major achievement and demonstrates their commitment to delivering the best possible care for women and their families."

The midwives received a plaque and certificate to mark their achievement.