STAFF at Warrington Hospital are busy marking International Nurses Day today.

The annual event coincides with the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth and the theme for this year is ‘Closing the Gap: Increasing Access and Equity’ with Warrington nurses focusing on taking pride in their jobs.

There will be a number of promotional stands dotted around the hospital from 10am to 3pm so people can find out more about what nurses do. To find out more go to the hospital’s main entrance.

CHRIS Barton, aged 53, is busy juggling life as mum to 15-year-old triplets as well as being a teenage pregnancy midwife.

She started her general nursing training at Warrington Hospital in 1975 before becoming a community midwife in 1982.

Ten years ago the Government launched a strategy to drive down teenage pregnancies and Chris, from Croft, took on the specialist role, which involves liaising with youth service Connexions and Sure Start centres.

Now Chris goes out into the community and looks after mums and dads aged 18 and under, providing antenatal and postnatal care along with advice on housing issues and benefits.

She said: “Some young people think their world has ended once they are pregnant and I encourage them to think of it as a new beginning.

“I help them become more responsible and I urge them to go back to school or college so they can boost their CV for later in life.

“It’s a very satisfying job as we allow parents to move on with their lives.

“They suddenly have so much responsibility on their shoulders and they tend to cope incredibly well.”

Chris is mum to Jack, Harry and Grace, who were born prematurely at 29 weeks weighing around 3lbs each.

She followed in the footsteps of mum Norma Massey, now aged 72, who retired from nearly 40 years in midwifery a decade ago.