People
Malaga's most senior midwife retires after assisting thousands of births"I once delivered the baby of a woman I had brought into the world myself 33 years earlier," Cristina Cobo says
Añádenos en Google Cristina Cobo, in the centre, with her colleagues at Malaga's Materno Infantil hospital. (SUR)José Antonio Sau
08/07/2026 a las 14:16h.Cristina Cobo Simó's colleagues describe her as a "guide" and an example of "professionalism and humane treatment". After more than 43 years of service and helping thousands of babies be born in the Materno Infantil hospital, the "dean" of Malaga midwives is retiring this week.
She has accompanied many families not only in good times, but also in bad, when they have truly needed closeness, support and a word of comfort.
Cobo was born in the Gálvez hospital on 16 June 1961, "at the foot of the Cathedral", she tells SUR. Her father was a military officer who made his career in the Air Force and her mother was a homemaker with boundless creativity. She is the youngest of four siblings and has always lived in the Perchel district. She and her husband have two sons: one a nurse like herself and the other a computer programmer.
She attended the Teresian school and completed her pre-university studies at the Marist school. "I loved studying as a child. I truly enjoyed school and I especially loved theatre," she says.
"I loved teaching and caring," Cristina says, though she doesn't have a clear memory of what led her to become a nurse. "The idea came to me from within. No one in my family was involved in that field," she explains.
Diploma
She entered nursing school after passing the entrance exam. She graduated with a diploma after working at Hospital Civil in 1982.
Where does her love for caring for others come from? Her father and mother raised a large family in a difficult time, which she sees as a possible explanation for her vocation.
In 1982, she started working at the Huelin health centre. "There was a fantastic nurse there. He took us newly hired staff under his wing and taught us a lot. He told us that there were nursing options beyond the national health system at that time. He'd say, 'You study midwifery, get a lot of points and you'll get a position quickly.' Another option he gave us was military nursing. My other colleagues were men. I'm talking about 1982, when women weren't in the armed forces. He told me, 'Military nursing isn't for you.' That really stuck with me," Cristina says.
She decided to become a midwife. "I fell in love with the profession," she says. She first arrived at the Materno Infantil hospital and worked in departments such as paediatric oncology or the cardiovascular ICU for three years, until she was able to secure a position as a midwife, a profession to which she has dedicated more than 40 years.
How many babies has she helped deliver? "No idea," she replies. Could it be several thousand? "Perhaps," she says.
Cristina has accompanied many families in the hours leading up to labour, assisting with the dilation process, inducing labour when necessary and other tasks. Her natural place is the delivery room, where her smile has been calming the nerves of expectant mothers.
She has also worked in the high-risk obstetrics ward and in the gynaecology and obstetrics emergency room. She says she loved switching between emergency and childbirth.
"By our side"
Many women stop her in the street years after she helped them. "But I didn't help you," she would usually reply. To that, they would respond: "You were the one who was by our side."
She has experienced some very touching moments. "I'm sure I've delivered babies whose mothers I brought into the world myself, but there's one birth I'll never forget because it happened early in my career. One of my colleagues at the Materno was a woman whose daughter I delivered. Then, 33 years later, that daughter arrived in labour at 4am one morning. She looked into the delivery room and asked: 'Is Cristina on duty?' I walked out and said: 'Hello.' I delivered her mother and then I delivered her. The three of us were in tears. It was a very special moment."
Among the more interesting anecdotes, she recalls one about a man who took a pregnant woman to the hospital after her car had broken down. The woman gave birth during the journey and the midwives initially thought the driver was the father, when in reality he was a stranger who had offered to help. They let him in and the poor driver was mainly worried about who was going to clean his car.
Cristina's recognisable red mane
Her red hair makes her easily recognisable on the street.
For Cobo, who has received numerous awards, including the Diario SUR health award and the Doctor Gálvez Ginachero award, "a midwife is always there for a woman", in good times and bad.
She has always maintained a positive attitude. "I always went to work with enthusiasm and a smile," Cristina says.
Nurse Cobo also nurtured her passion for teaching by tutoring residents, serving on examination boards and giving countless talks wherever she has been needed. She has also launched numerous initiatives with her colleagues in the field of perinatal grief.
Cristina never allowed the discouraging words of others stop her from achieving what she wanted. Despite the advice she received in 1982, she was an army reservist nurse for five years.
The Materno Infantil hospital has been her home, but she will remain linked to the profession through her position as a member of the nursing association of Malaga, as always, with a smile.