Am I mad to think about training to become a midwife when so few graduates get jobs

[Lilliput]

There has been so much in the press lately about a midwifery 'crisis' and it's beginning to put doubt in my mind whether it will be worth going through 3/4 years of training only to find I can't get a job. I live in rural scotland and had no problems at all with my midwives when I had both my children, is this so called crisis not happening up here? Change is on the horizon in my life and I need to make a decision about applying for this course.

[Lilliput]

you are all out in the sun, will try later

[margo1974]

D'you know this is what I would like to do too

I'll keep an eye out on answers

[NomDePlume]

in the sun ?



I wouldn't say you are mad to consider it. An awful lot can change in 4 years, NHS budget cuts/recruitment freezes are cyclical and vary from Trust to Trust. Chances are that by the time you qualify we'll have been through a few more rough/smooth cycles...

However, if I were due to qualify in the next 12 months or so, I'd be a little concerned.

[brimfull]

I've been wondering about this,considering doing my return to nursing course.My friend has just finished hers and is unable to find a job.

[Snaf]

As someone who is due to qualify in the next 12 months or so...

NdP is right, though, to an extent. If you really want to do it don't be put off, as these things do change. But I'd be a big fat liar if I said I was feeling warm and fuzzy about employment opportunities right now.

Mears may be able to give you a better idea of what the situation is like in Scotland. And check out this for more info and views, if you haven't already.

[Snaf]

Thinking about it, I believe everyone who qualified from my university last September is now working as a midwife. But it wasn't a sure thing by any means, and I'm not sure how many of them actually got a proper contract and how many are simply doing bank work.

I know there were ructions at my particular Trust because it looked for a while as if they weren't going to employ any of the students who'd spent the last three years training there. They did in the end and I think they're all on permanent contracts but I'm not positive.

There's twice as many of us at that hospital now though, so god only knows what will happen to us come next year.

[MarsLady]

We need more good midwives lilliput.

[mears]

It is true that there isn't the staffing crisis in Scotland that there is in England, AT THE MOMENT.

Who knows what will happen in the future. If you are keen to be a midwife then I would undertake the training to be honest. Otherwise you might well regret it. There is probably more chance of getting a job in rural Scotland than centrally. Very fe students have got jobs in my srea but that is because there is little movement at the moment. However there are a number of midwives due to retire - all round about the same age, so the situation will change.

How rural are you? Is there a unit nearby?

[Lilliput]

I live in Dumfries and Galloway and the nearest maternity unit is Cresswell in Dumfries. This is a fantastic lovely shiny new unit, it only opened 5 years ago. I could study at Bell college in Hamilton and since they have a campus in Dumfries I could do placements at cresswell. I need to pull my finger out and think about applying.
Where are you Mears?

[Lilliput]

Mars - I see you are a Doula, I have thought about going down that route, again I am not sure how much work I would get around here.

[LadyOfTheFlowersAKACodsPatsy]

good thread. intend to start training when kids go to school.

[mears]

I'm in Ayrshire. Women come to us from Dumfries when they want to be guaranteed an epidural in labour (not always possible!). Thereisn't a 24 hour service in Dumfries yet.

[Lilliput]

When I had dd 4 years ago there was no option at all to have an epidural. They just didn't do them no matter what time of the day.

[hippmummy]

OMG - I'd always believed the midwifery crisis was due to not enough people wanting to be midwives, not that they were cutting posts so there aren't enough jobs. All I ever hear is that we are 10000 midwives short.
That makes me so

[Lilliput]

Snaf - that website is fab, really useful, thanks.

[Snaf]

Hippmummy - that's a very common misconception [wry smile]

When I started thinking about midwifery, everyone I spoke to told me 'Go for it, they're crying out for midwives. You'll have a job for life.' And of course, I believed them, because all I could hear were the words 'midwife shortage'. I had no idea what that really meant.

When I applied for my course there were almost 800 applicants for 38 places. The year later there were 1000 applicants. (The equivalent nursing degree had over 400 places, to give you an idea of the difference.) Applicants are banging down the doors of universities to be given the chance to train. The numbers are restricted on the training courses because there are not enough midwives to mentor the students in practice. But even with that restriction, still students are coming out after three years of training to find there is no job for them.

We are 10,000 midwives short simply because the jobs don't exist. Look around you the next time you go to Sainsbury's. The shelf-stacker you pass in the baked-bean aisle may be a newly-qualified midwife!

[Lilliput]

I am hopig with the midwifery crisis becoming more of an political issue that by the time I have trained things will have changed and there will be a job at the end of it.

[allmytimeonmumsnet]

I just heard I got a place at Derby. Have been hopping round the kitchen with excitement. Was going to start a thread saying "Hey everyone guess what I'm going to be a midwife" but then I came across this thread and its rather taken the wind out of my sails.