Realities of training in midwifery with young children

[blondie87]

Hi there,

I’m seriously considering re-training as a midwife after a decade in education then a short career break. The main thing holding me back is that I have three children under 6 and my husband works FT. I’m currently a SAHM but want to get back into either employment or training within the next two years. Has anyone retrained in midwifery with very young children? Will I be spreading myself too thinly? We do have family locally but I wouldn’t expect them to do all of the childcare as it would be unfair to expect them to.

I did my nurse training with two small children and it was incredibly hard in terms of the childcare. You will need rock solid childcare to cover 7 am starts, 9 pm finishes and night shifts. The academic work was a breeze in comparison to managing the childcare.

The childcare aspect is 100% my biggest concern.

I am a nurse and trained before having DC, but I am in awe of the students I meet who have small children too. I imagine midwifery training is similar to nursing in terms of the workload. Yes, as above, you need 24/7 childcare. On placement you may only get a week or 2 notice of your shifts, and you will be expected to work long days and night shifts and weekends, including school holidays in some placements. You have somehow got to fit in academic work and preparing for exams as well. Also, I gather that midwifery is an extremely competetive degree to get onto, and so you would need some practical experience to back up your application.

Thank you for both of your insights. It would be a tight balancing act for sure. With the current pandemic it has been near impossible (understandably) to get any practical experience.