A family concern: Daphne Creed MBE

In 2023, her second daughter Sophie was born prematurely at just 33 weeks and 6 days at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.While Sophie was being looked after on the neonatal ward, Bailey said she was in and out of the hospital for seven weeks.

The 36-year-old former business recruiter had previously wondered about becoming a midwife, and remembered asking staff about shift patterns and workloads before coming across a poster for the Volunteer to Career scheme."I'm not super spiritual or anything but I felt that it was a sign meant for me," she said.Bailey applied for the programme that day - even completing the interview whilst at the hospital with her daughter.

"It just took me into this journey that I didn't really know existed because it allowed me to dip my toes into the water," she said.Volunteer to Career aims to address recruitment issues in the health services by helping people without prior knowledge of healthcare gain the skills and experience needed to apply for jobs or courses.

Over six months, participants complete a minimum of 50 hours of volunteering alongside hospital staff, but they can do more - Bailey estimates she volunteered close to 200 hours in total.

They are also offered extra classes on clinical skills, like suturing and interview techniques to assist with future job or university applications.“My family feels so proud of me. I have left my children at home to come here, but they know I’m serving the country. This works gives me so much positive energy,” said Safia.

Many acknowledged their privilege, and some expressed fear about whether even this might be stopped eventually. The Taliban’s health ministry didn’t answer questions about how they would find students to do this course in the future, if girls were not receiving formal education after grade six.Public health, security, arts and craft are among a handful of sectors where women have been able to continue working in parts of the country. But it isn’t a formal decree that gives them permission. It’s happening through a quiet understanding between ground-level Taliban officials, NGOs and other stakeholders involved.

The new law leaves even this informal system vulnerable to the scrutiny of the Taliban’s morality police.Sources in humanitarian agencies have told us they are grappling to understand how the law should be interpreted but they believe it will make operations more difficult.