Am I too old to be a midwife

[goodnightgrumble]

So I am 47 (only just) and a primary school teacher. I would like to retrain to be a midwife but. It sure if I will be considered too old. I will need biology or an access before I start so I will be 51 when I qualify! My current degree is primary Ed with English so not relevant at all.

My children are older now (I have 5) and I feel that I am in a position to finally retrain! What do you think? I am not bothered to be in classes with younger ones but would like some real honest opinions from midwives or mature students.
Funding not a problem as I funded my degree first time round.

@Iwonder08

Don't do it. The last thing poor women need in this country is yet another inexperienced midwife. By the time you are fully qualified and gain some experience in the field you will be nearing retirement age

The country needs more midwives! They all have to go through the same protocols whatever their age. All newly qualified midwives are inexperienced for a time. How do you bring new ones in otherwise???

I have no experience in midwifery or nursing, but gently - please don't go in with the attitude that having given birth puts you above midwives who don't have kids.
For my deliveries I've had one midwife who was pregnant with her first, one who I'd guess was early 50s with kids, and 2 others younger than me with no children. Every single one knew what they were doing, provided a high level of care and were able to respond to the situation appropriately. One had to leave quite quickly to respond to an emergency and rush a woman to theatre while I was still in the very early stages of labour so not needing constant assistance. It's probably things like that I'd consider, and if I could cope with such situations, possible adverse outcomes for mothers and babies and if I could keep it together to support them, etc.

I have returned to policing after 15 yr break, I'm having to start again and do a degree apprenticeship due to the time away and I'm 46.
I would say go for it but you will need to research the role a lot. I had my experiences from the first time and I still found the initial training tough due to the changes that have happened over the years. One person left in the first two weeks as it wasn't what they expected, another went on the sick shortly after going on shift, someone else resigned as they didn't meet the expected standards.
It has been hard going but I know can do it as I did it before, some others are having doubts though. You do need to go into these things with your eyes wide open, with a sense of humour, and to be prepared for a ton of hard graft. You need to be able to be trained by people younger than you and go in with an open mind with regard to how you may cope with it. You may think you have the experience but until you commit and start you just dont know for sure how that experience will fit in reality until you try it.

All the best with it though, you won't know until you try. You will get some raised eyebrows, I do, some think I'm crackers for going back but I had to go back and try for me and I certainly don't let any doubters get in my way!

Never too old to make a change.

Have you considered training to be an ODP ? Shorter training but covers the medical side you want

Nurse here for 32 years , the thought of going back to all of those junior years of nights etc 🤯

On saying that if I turned the clocks back , I'd do it all over again

Student Midwife here. I’m late 30’s, single parent and just finished 3 long day shifts. I am absolutely knackered but love it! Making a difference to women and their families feel amazing and as a student, I love to tag along with doctors to learn more of the e medical side too