Student midwife due to qualify this year. AMA.

[Anonymous2003]

Thought this may be fun :)
Please no questions seeking medical advice

@NessaSmith that makes me sad, I'm sorry about your experience 💐 i know midwives who really encourage women to move around in labour even if they are on monitors.

Thank you, I hope you'll be able to take into your own practice the thought that lighting/music/temperature can really make a difference.

I just remember it as so WHITE and BRIGHT. And bloody hot. Endless beeping. I cried a lot!

Did you do any sort of volunteering or shadowing to make your application stand out when you were applying for uni?

Have you seen much tension between the midwives and doctors ? When I was at medical school (and my husband now as an anaethetist sometimes sees this) sometimes there is a bit of a clash between the two professions. Maybe that's less common these days though

@XenoBitch I volunteered in a women only care home specialising in dementia care. I did some online courses including a video call style class ran by the charity Breastfeeding Together. I cared for two children, one of whom had ASD and ADHD. Other than that I just worked in retail so I had no clinical experience until I started the course.

@clinellwipe yes I have! Not every shift but there is definitely tension between professions at times, it's usually down to poor/lack of communication or differing opinions regarding a woman's care.

@clinellwipe BTW love the username 🤣

lol thanks, I'm a germ phobe 🤣

@Anonymous2003 - how much general nursing training do you get? For example, do you get training on how to nurse someone who has had major abdominal surgery - like a c-section?

I trained as a nurse back in the days before it was a degree course, and most of our training was on the job. Back then, midwives had to do their general training and then a further course to qualify as midwives, so they had three years of experience in nursing patients with a wide range of medical and surgical conditions - so I am wondering how you get this now, given that you do a specific course as midwives. Do you get any general nursing experience?

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius it varies between universities but we got 4 weeks in a different area. Some people were sent to gynae/surgicla wards or theatres. I was placed in maternity settings however. The girls that did go to nursing areas reported getting little experience as the nursing and paramedic students were prioritised over them.

It is not good that other students get prioritised over midwifery students, @Anonymous2003 - I assume you get taught the general nursing skills during your midwifery placements instead.

Would you yourself opt for a vaginal or caesarean delivery?

What obstetric emergency scares you the most?

@Nerdynerdynerd vaginal. And scariest emergency would probably be shoulder dystocia

How much training do you get about breech births (and supporting vaginal breech births)?

@SP2024 we do get pretty good training and part of our final exam is an emergency simulation, one of which is breech birth. We do hands on simulation (as close to real life as you can get with a mannequin and doll 🤣). But realistically vaginal breech birth is basically unheard of, every woman with a breech baby goes for a c section if I'm being totally honest.

What’s your dream birth and what would you try to avoid at all costs

@Nellyelephanty a safe birth and a healthy baby, anything else is a bonus 😊
Seriously though, I would like to have a vaginal birth and avoid instrumental/section if possible, and so would try everything in my power to avoid those. But things can happen and like I said, I would be delighted with a healthy baby no matter what kind of birth I had. (Not disregarding birth trauma here whatsoever)

@Anonymous2003 thank you for doing this! I'd love to retain as a midwife.

Do you get additional training or counselling in the event of a still birth or neonatal death?

What would happen if you knew that there major issues during labour? Do you have to transfer the womans care to a doctor?

@overthinkersanonnymus no problem, its just a bit of fun 😊 its never too late to retrain, we have woman of all ages on the course from a range of career backgrounds, its great to have varying rates of insight.
We havent had much bereavement training at uni so its something we seek out ourselves. I havent had much bereavement exposure and its something I am very nervous about coming across eventually.
Most delivery suites are an obstetric unit meaning there are always doctors on shift. If complications arise we always consult with them, that could mean bringing them into the delivery room to assess the woman and discuss a care plan. Then they would usually keep an eye on things with us.
But midwives provide care throughout emergencies and in theatre. So if for example a doctor had to come in to do a vacuum delivery, the midwife would stay in the room with the woman. And if a woman goes to theatre the midwife goes too.

Did they talk about pregnant women or pregnant people in your training?

@musicalfrog pregnant women.

Am pleased to hear it 🙂

Have you ever been present at a home birth?

How much mental health training do you get?

@Philandbill I have not, I am almost finished my community placement. The midwives there have an on call rota for homebirths. If I wanted to attend a homebirth I would kind of have to be on call at all times to get that opportunity, which I'm sure you can understand I do not want to do!