THE wife of the former Bolton hospital Chief Executive John Brunt has switched from handing out medicines to delivering babies.

The mid-life career change for Debbie Brunt came about the time her husband John took early retirement as boss of the NHS Trust responsible for the Royal Bolton Hospital last year.

Now, as her husband relaxes at their Bolton home, mother of four Mrs Brunt is busy learning how to deliver babies at Fairfield Hospital in Bury

Mrs Brunt's first job was as a pharmacy dispenser in 1975 but little did she know she would end up delivering babies 30 years later.

At the age of 45 Mrs Brunt decided to quit working in pharmacy to pursue her dream of helping women before, during and after pregnancy.

She worked in the pharmacy at the Royal Bolton Hospital, ensuring people got the right drugs and the right dosage.

Now Mrs Brunt is in her first year of a midwifery degree at Salford University.

As well as attending lectures and studying full-time, she is out on placement working with community midwives at Fairfield. It was her own experiences of having her two sons and two daughters that led her to wanting to become a midwife.

She said: "Nature works beautifully if left to work itself. I had very positive experiences in all my four births, even though they all had to be induced. Its an experience a woman remembers for the rest of her life if the relationship between her and the midwife is good."