Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Tyrone midwife on cover of British Vogue: 'I imagine my mum will be in Tesco buying all the copies she can'

Rachel Millar had no idea she’d be on the cover when a photographer came to the hospital she works in a few weeks ago.

A MIDWIFE FROM Tyrone has said she is delighted to be one of three frontline workers chosen to appear on the cover of the July edition of British Vogue, and added it shows that people who do everyday jobs “can make a difference”. 

Cookstown-native Rachel Millar works in Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in east London and was on shift a few weeks ago when the photographer from Vogue arrived to take photos of staff onsite. 

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today, she said: “Yeah I’m more than happy with it.

We knew Vogue was doing some kind of feature on key workers during the pandemic. We had no idea there was potential for it to be on the cover. I didn’t believe them at the start [when they said I would be]. 

Millar told the programme how her role as a community midwife has had to adapt during the pandemic. 

She provides antenatal clinics which are usually face-to-face throughout someone’s pregnancy. She also does home visits after the baby is born to provide support. 

Millar has sought to continue this care for those bringing their new born home for the first time despite the pandemic. 

She said she hopes the kindness shown towards NHS and other frontline workers during the crisis persists into the future. 

“In maternity, we’re very fortunate that we get a love and recognition due to the nature of our job anyway,” she said. “It’s nice to see roles in the NHS that previously weren’t as recognised or appreciated get that recognition this time around.”

The midwife said that frontline workers like herself being recognised on the cover of Vogue is a positive step.

She said: “There definitely has been a shift in who Vogue portray as role models. The fact they put three ordinary people on the cover instead of a model or celebrity – I hope it’s a reminder to people who see it that everyday jobs can make a difference.”

As for her local hometown in Tyrone, Millar joked there could be a run on the shops to snap up copies when it goes on sale. 

“I’m imagining my mum will be in Tesco tomorrow buying all the copies she can find,” she said. 

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
29 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rory Mcloughlin
    Favourite Rory Mcloughlin
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 2:30 PM

    Tell this to all the obese ladies out there, it’s gone shocking lately..

    195
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Maria Farrell
    Favourite Maria Farrell
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 3:05 PM

    Great idea Rory.
    The thing is, when all those girls have slimmed down to what you deem acceptable, you unfortunately will still be single on account of the fact that you’re an odious excuse for a man.

    542
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paddy Mac
    Favourite Paddy Mac
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 3:09 PM

    Unfortunately Rory is right, it’s a disgrace the amount of obesity in this country and its largely down to laziness, it’s so simple for them to get up of their behinds and go for a walk

    199
    See 7 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Maria Farrell
    Favourite Maria Farrell
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 3:12 PM

    Paddy, his comment was aimed specifically at “ladies”. He’s more concerned with aesthetics than the health of the general population.

    211
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rory Mcloughlin
    Favourite Rory Mcloughlin
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:05 PM

    Maria, I’m afraid there is something slightly wrong with your comment, I have a bodyfat % of 8.5 and a girlfriend who works part time in Abercrombie whilst in college, obesity is down to laziness, you don’t wake up one
    morning and realise your massive it occurs through lack of excessive and excessive consumption of unhealthy foods.

    64
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Maria Farrell
    Favourite Maria Farrell
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:22 PM

    Thank you Dr Rory for your professional assessment of the causes of obesity. And as nice as it must be for you to have a girlfriend who works in a clothes shop, I still don’t really see what that has to do with you attacking obese “ladies” specifically.

    211
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Megan
    Favourite Megan
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:36 PM

    I don’t know why you aimed your comment at women Rory. Have you not seen all the men with beer bellies protruding over their belts? Obesity doesn’t affect women alone.

    185
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rory Mcloughlin
    Favourite Rory Mcloughlin
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:49 PM

    Can’t we all just get along <3

    23
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Maria Farrell
    Favourite Maria Farrell
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:57 PM

    We’ll get along when you stop being a misogynist.

    181
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Stephen Hayden
    Favourite Stephen Hayden
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 10:03 PM

    I checked with every other man in Ireland and we all agreed to vote Rory out.

    143
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niamh May
    Favourite Niamh May
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 3:14 PM

    Oh I must get off my lazy ass when im finished picking up after my children…. and my fella! Are men exempt from obesity???

    153
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Maria Farrell
    Favourite Maria Farrell
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 3:22 PM

    It seems so, according to Dr. Rory up there. He has a PhD is misogyny, don’t you know.

    172
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dean McDonnell
    Favourite Dean McDonnell
    Report
    Oct 22nd 2012, 10:50 AM

    Yes, as a man you don’t need to worry about weight, you just need to have a massive cock… ney accent… The girls go mad for it, something about the pronunciation I hear….

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gillian Byrne
    Favourite Gillian Byrne
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:17 PM

    Rest assured Rory I have plenty of self respect!!!! Yes I am overweight and yes I do have a gym membership which I use!!! Not everyone is obviously as motivated as you Rory!! Maybe getting up at 5.30am each morning,driving into Dublin City Centre to work in one of the busiest hospitals for hours then to drive home and care for a young family has adequate time to do what you obviously do???? Don’t tarnish obese people with the same brush!!!! Don’t be so narrow minded!!!!! One should wait until they have their own family and see how life changes!

    95
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rory Mcloughlin
    Favourite Rory Mcloughlin
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:26 PM

    If you work as hard as you say you do then the problem is your diet, if you have self respect you’d make a lifestyle change in what your consuming and maybe you’ll avoid spending most your time in hospital when your older, and I’m not talking about you working in it.

    44
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Stewart
    Favourite Paul Stewart
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:34 PM

    Agree with you Rory, Irish people in general do not look after themselves! We eat and eat, pure crap and do nothing on a daily routine to keep ourselves in shape. It is so different when you go abroad and everyone is normal weight! Too many take aways and too many hot chicken rolls every day for lunch probably do not help! Btw, being over weight is unhealthy and just because you have kids cannot make u overweight :) Kids do not force you to eat crap!!!

    60
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rory Mcloughlin
    Favourite Rory Mcloughlin
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:41 PM

    To be honest I started off earlier trolling for a few red thumbs off women, but on obesity in Ireland It’s a disgrace, takes 20 minutes of cardio a day to keep active. You need to have a calorie surplus of 3500 to gain one pound and that’s a lot of food. It’s beginning in the children in recent times and the excuse is they want to eat bad food. Stop feeding your kids shite and they won’t be puddings and be bullied for it.

    82
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gillian Byrne
    Favourite Gillian Byrne
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:44 PM

    Thanks for the advise. One shall take note of your wonderful expertise!! As it seems you have an answer for everything!!!! As I sign off I’ll pass on some advise of my own. In my 10 years of nursing I can recall hundreds of healthy, fit & active people who have been hospitalised or many that have subsequently died despite their fitness or diet. Maybe we don’t have full control of what the future holds for us!?! I do however understand that it is important to keep fit and be healthy that was never my argument. It was simply that maybe you should refrain from such offensive comments. It’s very easy to pass comment or judgement but be prepared for it in return!

    67
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niamh May
    Favourite Niamh May
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:50 PM

    @rory and @Paul, I do agree we are getting more and more obese, however, rory, I’m sure you know its not just ” ladies ” men are obese too.

    62
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute William Grogan
    Favourite William Grogan
    Report
    Oct 22nd 2012, 3:48 PM

    Gillian, that’s an odd comment from a nurse! Obese people, like smokers, have a much worse health outlook. That’s not to say non smoking normal weight people won’t get ill, it’s just far less likely.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Lj Traynor
    Favourite Lj Traynor
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 3:26 PM

    If he says we are obese girls then we obviously are! The mirrors have been lying to us all these years!

    62
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niall F
    Favourite Niall F
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 10:15 PM

    ‘Ive a girlfriend who works in Abercrombie’. You clown. I think she needs to go to specsavers. Whilst shes there see if she can find you a pair of mens shades. Some people are ‘addicted’ to food, much like alcohol or cigarettes. They get a bit fat, feel down and go back to their addiction for comfort. It’s a wholesale change in education and attitude that will bring about change. 20 min cardio might work for some but it sure wont for others, there’s no quick fix for it.

    61
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Oisin Mulchrone
    Favourite Oisin Mulchrone
    Report
    Oct 22nd 2012, 3:26 AM

    @Rory For the record Abercrombie have yet to open their store in Ireland, just saying… is you’re girlfriend one of the burly builders…?

    59
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niall F
    Favourite Niall F
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 10:21 PM

    ‘A calorie surplus of 3500 to gain a pound’ am laughing away to myself. I smell a ‘gym doctor’ here. You know them, all the answers and technobabble you need to get on the front cover of men’s health haha ‘if you pull this bar sideways it’ll actually make your guts spectre an enzyme that puts you off rashers which is why I look awesome’ haha

    58
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gillian Byrne
    Favourite Gillian Byrne
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 4:33 PM

    What a lovely comment Rory!!! I take it you’re single with a comment like that!?!?!? And rightly so too!!! We may not all be as slim as catwalk models but here’s the thing maybe we’re happy in our own skin!!!! People like you make me sick, that you actually think ya have the right to pass comment on others!!! One could search the world looking for perfection but would return empty handed as it does not exist! Maybe think before you speak next time Rory rather than be perceived as a shallow human being!!!! Or is that what you want, attention!?! Get a life!!!!

    56
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rory Mcloughlin
    Favourite Rory Mcloughlin
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:07 PM

    No I’ve a wonderful girlfriend who has something many women in Ireland lack these days…….self respect. Get off your backsides and do a bit of exercise.

    60
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niamh May
    Favourite Niamh May
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 5:40 PM

    As the oul fella said…. I’m glad I’m perfect!

    63
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute poppysmith
    Favourite poppysmith
    Report
    Oct 22nd 2012, 12:24 PM

    Yes Rory, of course, weight loss is that simple – what about those people who are unable to exercise to their full capacity due to a long-term injury, what about people undergoing certain treatments in which they have to take massive amounts of steroids which causes massive weight gain, what about young women who’ve fought with bulimia for 20 years and as a result it has messed up their metabolism and their relationship towards food so much they wish it was as simple as a bit of exercise!

    The world isn’t black and white Rory and there’s more to life than image. I know skinny size 8 women with high cholesterol and who smoke 40 a day and drink regularly and never exercise yet society and people like you would view such women as healthier than a curvy size 14 women who exercises regularly and eats a balanced diet. Health over image is the key Rory and to tar anyone who’s overweight as lazy is just pure ignorant!

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute fizi_water
    Favourite fizi_water
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 7:38 PM

    Strange observation Rory, I wanted to say something quite opposite.
    I see so many people around me walking, running, exercise etc. I feel bit ashamed I never do it regularly as I used to. I honestly don”t see that many obese people these days, maybe just bit overweight sometimes. But your rant about body fat level, eating, etc. does not work for everyone, as people have different metabolism levels and different gene pools. I know some people who have fried / fast food EVERY lunch and dinner, no exaggeration, and they’re skinny as rake. I need to watch what I eat all the time for a change as I get bigger right away, while I love many foods and can’t really help it :-) Only serious workout can balance this out for me.
    I bet you are the type who can eat pretty much anything and stays the same weight so it’s easy to slag people :)

    40
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Kennedy
    Favourite David Kennedy
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 8:29 PM

    Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels

    25
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Kennedy
    Favourite David Kennedy
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 8:29 PM

    Sorry typo… should have read as ‘skinny fries,’

    97
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Not Eric R
    Favourite Not Eric R
    Report
    Oct 22nd 2012, 10:52 AM

    obese wimmins coming here, stealing all our food. It’s not right Joe

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute fizi_water
    Favourite fizi_water
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 8:42 PM

    10. Reward Yourself



    Hmmm off to Burger King? :)

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute aibhran
    Favourite aibhran
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 4:18 PM

    why do I have felling Rory spend more time getting ready for night out than I do. ya PEOPLE are putting on pound but its the life style and ready maid foods Rory just been douch about it. good tips buy way its not easy at start two get in two.

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Andrew Dunne
    Favourite Andrew Dunne
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 10:55 PM

    It’s a battle once u give up the cigs tho, so hard to keep the fab at bay

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niall F
    Favourite Niall F
    Report
    Oct 21st 2012, 10:22 PM

    ‘Secrete’. I hate auto-correct.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute William Grogan
    Favourite William Grogan
    Report
    Oct 22nd 2012, 3:57 PM

    I’m still in shock after reading there’s 600 calories in a portion of prawn crackers :((

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niamh May
    Favourite Niamh May
    Report
    Oct 22nd 2012, 12:00 AM

    Our country is fecked. Cut child benefit, cut social welfare. Put a charge on water that you cannot drink. A charge on a home we’re never gonna be able to pay for.

    6
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds