From Army Nurse to Maternity Matron

To mark Remembrance Day on 11 November 2025, we’re shining a light on some of our colleagues who started their career in the Armed Forces.

Karen Fegan, who now works as Matron in our maternity department, began her nursing training in June 1985 when she joined the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC).

During her training, Karen spent six weeks working in a maternity department during an 18-month posting in Germany. It was after she witnessed her first birth there, that she knew she’d found her calling to be a midwife.

She said: “I was in my uniform with brass buttons and highly polished shoes. The membranes ruptured during a birth and I got covered in amniotic fluid. It went everywhere and it took ages to repolish my shoes.”

When her posting in Germany ended, Karen was based at Woolwich where the next stage of her training saw her caring for patients on a burns unit. Among the patients were those recovering from injuries sustained in the Falklands War, and musicians injured in the Deal bombing.

After qualifying as a registered nurse in 1988 and spending a year working as a staff nurse on a ward with Chelsea Pensioners, the next chapter of her career began in September 1989, when she started her midwifery training.

“In November, I remember being on the delivery suite with the TV on in the birthing room, watching the Berlin Wall come down,” she said.

Karen qualified as a midwife in March 1991 and took up a post at the Louise Margaret Hospital in Aldershot. A few years later, she was posted to Hong Kong, an adventure she remembers fondly: “I did lots of travelling from Hong Kong to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and weekends in Macau. Lots of shopping and my home was full of rosewood furniture.”

After leaving the Army in January 1998, Karen began working at a standalone birthing centre in Petersfield, providing one-to-one midwifery care and supporting water births.

Since 1999, she has been part of our Maternity Team here at Medway, starting as a specialist midwife, and more recently becoming a maternity matron.

She said: “I’ve been fortunate to be voted in as a Staff Governor too. I’ll be retiring in 18 months, after 42 years in healthcare, with only a six-month break for maternity leave.”

Today, Karen remains an active member of our Armed Forces Network: “It’s great to get together with other veterans and talk about our experiences. It gives me a real sense of belonging and the network is so supportive.”

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