MUMS-TO-BE in Pendle are being looked after by some of the best in the business.

The Pendle team of community midwives is through to the final in a contest run by the British Journal of Midwives.

And the eight-strong group will now get the chance to live the high life with a champagne reception at London's Savoy for the awards ceremony.

It all started when Linda Arnold, a Pendle midwife for 21 years, read about the competition in the magazine.

She said: "I decided to enter the team because they deserved it. We're very excited about going to the Savoy and, if we win, it will be the icing on the cake."

Linda wrote to the magazine about the team's work and the individuals' interests, putting their success down to experience, and their willingness to innovate and learn new skills.

The midwives recently began training women to support others in breast feeding through the Government's SureStart - set up to aid young mums and their children.

They also run a teenage pregnancy group, offer help to stop smoking, run aqua-natal classes, and run a home birth service.

The midwives are all linked to GPs, and cover part of Nelson and Colne, Earby, Barnoldswick, Trawden and Barrowford.

Another team member, Margaret Robertson, who has worked in Pendle for 28 years, said the night out will be "fantastic recognition" of their efforts. She added: "When Linda started trying to write down everything we do it was an enormous list. We didn't realise we did as much work as we do.

"It's fantastic recognition of all the hard work we put in. We've got a good working relationship, we're flexible and enthusiastic."

Linda and Margaret, along with colleagues Bernadette Seedall, Lynn Garnett, Rachel Dixon, Yvonne Hardman, Karen Young and Jane Patrick will find out if they are Britain's top team of midwives on November 25.