AIBU to think I am being forced out of midwifery?

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

I've been a midwife for 12 years. I have a wealth of experience and skills.
But I am also a single parent (not through choice).
I have no family support. Ex husband doesn't involve himself with the children.
I'm in so much debt from paying for a Nanny so I can keep on working.
I can't do it anymore.
Work won't help.
I feel absolutely lost and distraught that for 12 years, I have fought hard to make this work (I was a teenage mum when I started my training). And now I can feel it slipping out of my fingers.
All I wanted was to work as a community midwife so I can use regular childcare. But no, this can not be accomodated due to the government deciding 80% of women should have continuity of carer (Better Births recommendation, which was then used in the NHS Long Term Plan). The traditional community model is going to go to a caseloading model which involves community days, along side hospital shift work. My employer has stated even if I could do the caseloading model, I can not stay part time either (I am currently part time as I have 3 children to manage, and one has additional needs).
These changes are allegedly happening in all Trusts as a result.
I'm going to lose my career. What the hell am I going to do?

Don’t discount teaching in further education. You don’t have to teach midwifery you will be qualified to teach aspect of childcare and health and social care. These courses are very popular and run at levels 1, 2,3 and sometimes degree. L2 is GCSE for context. Topics would be very simple at L1. In FE you can get a PGCE FE within two years so don’t need one straight away and many colleges run the courses so will train you themselves. You could prob just walk into a few hours teaching hourly paid. They are crying out for people with industry experience.

I actually think this continuity of care model is rubbish. Pregnancy and birth are totally unpredictable so unless your mid wife is on call 24/7 with no holidays and no other patients whose needs might clash with yours the system is set up to fail and disappoint patients and drive midwives to an early grave.

But that’s and aside. Op can you do some bank work. It sounds like there’s going to be a big midwife shortage (already is)

Sorry to hear this OP.

Consult with your union.

Explore bank and agency options.

I detest what the government are doing to nursing and midwifery.

OP I completely get it, I’m hospital based at the mo but very likely to get sent out to integrated community very soon, which is then likely to develop into full-blown caseloading. If that happens I am off, I have two preschoolers and I cannot work on-calls, it just does not fit with my life. I hate the way it’s being pushed as so fantastic because our hours are so flexible, but my childcare is NOT flexible, so that’s of no use to me whatsoever. I think the most frustrating thing is; the NHS will never be able to afford proper caseloading midwifery, we’ll all have to jump through hoops for a couple of years until it becomes apparent it’s not working, then it’ll all go back to normal. In the meantime god knows how many of us will have left the profession .
I am thinking about health visiting or trying to get into clinical governance. Am very sad to be thinking about leaving a job I love but my family has to come first.

You aren't being forced out of midwifery, you don't want to pay the childcare needed. That's very different. It's not a job that was ever going to be family friendly, especially with three children to cover childcare costs for.

Swapping childcare is the most likely option. I know two nurses who work different hours and help each other with the unsociable hours childcare.

The new model is being rolled out in Scotland too. Entire profession being told our way of working is changing with no consultation with midwives. We are expected to be on call almost 24/7 and while I fully appreciate continuity can be better for women is this really a safe system when the midwife has worked all day and is called from her bed to provide care without adequate rest? The proposals are not safe for women or staff. As a community midwife I already do unsociable hours to cover the existing service and our antenatal and postnatal continuity is excellent but I am not able to work the full caseloading model so will be forced to leave if I cannot be redeployed. We have involved the unions but no real progress being made. My future and ability to support my family is in jeopardy after 10+ years of hard work and commitment to the nhs. I would be willing to retrain as HV but there are few opportunities for this and likely massive demand for any places that do come up as so many midwives are in the same position. I fear this model will lead to midwife shortages and impact hugely on women's maternity experiences.

I just lost my community midwife for this very reason had her from 8 weeks to 34 weeks and I'm gutted (now 38 +4 weeks)

It's not the others aren't good but so far I'm going over the same details every visit as seeing different ones. Mine was very understanding about my decision to work until 38 weeks and always told me as long as I was feeling OK than no issue.
The other 2 kept telling me that I was pushing it etc.

My old midwife has gone to bank staff.

OP could you do 1 day bank work to keep your hand in and then do private care work in the community self employed? It pays alright and you get to chose your hours?
I'm so sorry you're being pushed from your career, I bet your a fab midwife.

I wouldn’t discount teaching - I have colleagues who have made the transition and have done the additional qualification required in their paid hours. Bank work is also a good option as you can control your hours.

I am a midwife and work in research which may be something else worth considering - our team do largely office hours. I know these things may not appeal to you immediately, but think of it as a way of maintaining your registration til you reach a time when you have more flexibility.

TheBigBangRocks it’s not just a matter of not wanting to pay childcare is it? That’s a very simplistic and reductive view of what’s going on here. Clearly the OP does pay for childcare and would continue to do so if she could continue with her current part-time working schedule but she can’t because that option is no longer available to her. Of course she’s effectively being managed out. Her choice is to either suck up being full-time and on call 24/7 with all the additional expense and upheaval for antisocial hours childcare or leave. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

It’s also not just paying for childcare it’s fjnding childcare flexible enough for shift work. NHS managers won’t give set shifts which makes it bloody tricky to sort childcare for. I’m a nurse and work on the bank and also see people been pushed out. Feel for you OP, it’s a crap position to be in

They did this years ago, everyone went into community based teams. It didn’t work then as so many people struggled with the hours . Midwives left in droves and they will do so again.

We can’t have it all, we either have plentiful midwives with provision for families including sing,e parents or we have a work force of young less experienced midwives who can do the hours but will lack the expertise of more experienced staff.

I left and became a health Visitor, best thing I ever did. I was a single parent and the hours could be fitted around my son,

I'd be looking at training as a health visitor if I were you - I think you get paid whilst you're training.

Do you have a union? Speak to them.

Opus it something that is worth talking to your mp about?

If this changes is being made without any thought as to how exactly it’s going to work in real life for those mw needing childcare but not actually providing access to that childcare (the out of hours stuff/flexibility is bad enough to find at the moment). They might not have clicked that they might be cutting their nose off to spite their face as lots of mw might have to leave due to the lack of childcare (or maybe others have other reasons for not being able to be flexible). Maybe get them to raise it with the health minister or similar appropriate person.

Of course the OP is being forced out. Full time 25/7 childcare for 3 will be unaffordable on her salary and there's nothing innate about midwifery work that means it has to involve cascading care.

Private mid wife
Control over your hours (in the main) and more money

Health visitor pay is dreadful

As long as you have a PIN you can train to do cosmetic procedures like filler and Botox then you could set up your own small business working 9-5 or whenever suits you doing that? And you could also go on the midwife bank maybe and do odd shifts that suit you? There are lots of options if you have an active PIN. Or look at a job with a nursing agency as a nurse consultant doing the nurse interviews and compliance. Pay is around the same as a midwife, but it’s office hours. I hope you can work something out.

Private midwifery isn't really a solution because that would still be managing a caseload which is a problem with childcare

Health visitor pay is dreadful

HVs are band 6, just like midwives. They difference would be the shift allowance money, but that might be offset by regular Mon-Fri working and more regular childcare.

Or another option might be the disability assessor jobs with the dwp. Working for atos or similar. They pay mid 30k I think and again it’s office hours and sometimes home based. Have a look online - I think you can apply direct or via an agency.

Doula work is also likely to be caseloady.

Another thought - are there any jobs local to you within fertility ivf clinics? Again they would be looking for midwife with PIN but would be more core hours rather than shifts?

NHS workers need to wake up to the fact that people don't only become ill between Tuesday and Thursday and between 9am and 3pm. Of course it isn't practical for NHS workers to work these hours unless they think that child free colleagues should have to work all of the anti social hours.
Quite honestly I'd like to see a 30 year full time commitment enforced when doing an expensive to the taxpayer health care degree which could only be broken in cases of disability or permanent ill health to the individual in question.