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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

How academic do you have to be to become a midwife?

36 replies

Amy501 · 10/05/2022 09:26

Sorry but I’m not the brightest academically and would love to train to be a midwife. Any midwives be brutally honest about how hard the degree is?

also, do you enjoy the job?

not really an AIBU I know but I know this is where I will get the most traffic

OP posts:
CrumpetStrumpet · 10/05/2022 09:39

Somebody on my Facebook is training to be a midwife.

She doesn't know the difference between you're and your and can barely string a sentence together on her posts. I must admit it does make me wonder how she got onto the course!

Original poster
Amy501 · 10/05/2022 09:41

😂😂😂😂😂😂

OP posts:
Original poster
Amy501 · 10/05/2022 09:42

Well I suppose I am in then! Haha! That tickled me

OP posts:
Original poster
Amy501 · 10/05/2022 09:44

I mean I am not completely dumb!!! Got ok grades etc I’m just not great at maths..it would be nice to know what the degree entails as I would love to do it 😊

OP posts:
Choufleurfromage · 10/05/2022 09:48

CrumpetStrumpet · 10/05/2022 09:39

Somebody on my Facebook is training to be a midwife.

She doesn't know the difference between you're and your and can barely string a sentence together on her posts. I must admit it does make me wonder how she got onto the course!

Sadly, the NHS is so short of people wanting to be nurses/madwives that pretty much anyone with a pulse is accepted onto the courses. Nursing has an attrition rate of 24% during training (cannot cope with the academic work or 'having to combine academic work with practical placements because is it so exhausting...'
There are numerous routes into midwifery - look on the NHS website, or the NMC site.

Mama05070704 · 10/05/2022 09:49

You’ll need a GCSE at grade C or above but besides that, you don’t need to be amazing at maths. I’m currently training to be a midwife and it’s a 50/50 split between theory and practice. Some of us are quite academic whilst a lot definitely are not. Most of them are still managing okay, most assessments only require 40% to pass.

Original poster
Amy501 · 10/05/2022 09:53

@Mama05070704 thank you 😊 I just wasn’t sure if there were many calculations/dilutions involved regarding medicine etc but if not that’s great! Im
not poor at maths just wouldn’t like to do an A level in it! 😂

OP posts:
Original poster
Amy501 · 10/05/2022 09:57

@Choufleurfromage I find that really hard to believe as I always thought midwifery was a quite popular course in terms of applicants and they were quite selective in terms of entry requirements, nursing in general seems easier from what I have seen on the uni websites?

OP posts:
CmonYouKnow · 10/05/2022 10:00

It used to be more difficult to get onto but since they got rid of the student bursary/funding the number of places offered have increased. We had to do a medicines calculation exam every year which you had to get 100% on.

pedropony76 · 10/05/2022 10:01

Sorry not a midwife or anything but when I had my first DD last year, I had such a horrible experience that I was certain that I wanted to train as a midwife to give some women positive experiences.

I started looking into it and I remembered there was a woman on IG who is training as a midwife and had a page to take her friends through her journey. When I saw some of the exams she had to take I honestly thought ‘fuck that I’m way too dumb for this’😂.
I really think you need to have a good understanding of science to be able to be a midwife. I was dumb and seriously underestimated just how much science is involved with everything!

I’m sure someone will come along to give you a better insight haha

10HailMarys · 10/05/2022 10:02

She doesn't know the difference between you're and your and can barely string a sentence together on her posts. I must admit it does make me wonder how she got onto the course!

Unless you require your midwife to parse a sentence for you mid-episiotomy, it doesn't matter. Being good with words doesn't have any bearing on your understanding of biology.

FWIW, I write and edit for a living and I see a lot of written material by people who are extremely academic (doctors, engineers, ecologists and more). Trust me, plenty of them struggle to write a decent sentence. Horses for courses.

cushioncovers · 10/05/2022 10:03

Really ? has this changed since I looked into applying a few years ago. Then you needed A levels or equivalent.

The uni nearest me regularly has over 1000 applications for 50 places. They are extremely picky on who they accept.

Choufleurfromage · 10/05/2022 10:04

Mama05070704 · 10/05/2022 09:49

You’ll need a GCSE at grade C or above but besides that, you don’t need to be amazing at maths. I’m currently training to be a midwife and it’s a 50/50 split between theory and practice. Some of us are quite academic whilst a lot definitely are not. Most of them are still managing okay, most assessments only require 40% to pass.

40% - what a low standard
No wonder incidents such as Mid-Staffs, Morecombe and the rest happen

Kindastrange · 10/05/2022 10:06

Realistically it does involve things like essay writing and medicines calculations

It doesn't mean you have to be very academic as lots of the writing skills etc can be gained via doing short access courses before going on to the degree course.

It does mean though you have to be prepared to do essay writing, dissertations etc which can feel overwhelming if you've had bad education experiences before

DorritLittle · 10/05/2022 10:08

FWIW, I write and edit for a living and I see a lot of written material by people who are extremely academic (doctors, engineers, ecologists and more). Trust me, plenty of them struggle to write a decent sentence

Same here. Also my relatives are academics and some of the least practical people I know!

That said, when I was at Uni and there was funding, it did seem a very tough course (for friends who did it) and some people dropped out.

Hallyup89 · 10/05/2022 10:09

We had to do a drugs calculation test in years 1 and 3 on which you had to get 100% to be able to continue. I think you got two attempts though. Everyone passed it.

You don't have to be insanely academic for the course but obviously you need a reasonable grasp. They'll probably test you at interview - we had to write a short essay. I found the people who were the best at the academic side were not always the best when it came to placements and I'd have hated some of them to deliver any of my children.

Placement grades are hit and miss and depend on your mentor. We had some students getting 100% for placements and other getting less because "nobody gets 100%". There was no consistency.

It's hard work, weird hours and exceedingly tiring. It's also massively rewarding.

Kindastrange · 10/05/2022 10:10

@Choufleurfromage the 40% isnt midwifery specific, it's the same for any degree course

www.imperial.ac.uk/students/success-guide/ug/assessments-and-feedback/improving-through-feedback/understanding-grades/

First-Class Honours (First or 1st) (70% and above)
Upper Second-Class Honours (2:1, 2.i) (60-70%)
Lower Second-Class Honours (2:2, 2.ii) (50-60%)
Third-Class Honours (Third or 3rd) (40-50%)

PrivateHall · 10/05/2022 10:11

It has changed a bit I think over the last years as there seem to be a lot more places due to the shortage of midwives. I required 5 x B at GCSE to include maths, English and Science and 3 x B at A Level (or equivalent), with at least one science subject. This was 10 years ago now. The degree was similar to any degree I guess, for me the hardest bit was juggling the academic work with placements and family life. Whilst stressing about money. Like many students I guess. I disagree with claims from pp that anyone can get on the course now, that simply isn't true. There is a FB group called The secret community for midwives in the making and you can see on there that tons of amazing sounding applicants are rejected.

I wouldn't let it put you off, there is academic support available in universities.

That being said, you need to look into the realities of the job. I absolutely love it but it is freaking hard, the last couple of years have taken their toll on everyone. Burn out has never been higher. However I appreciate that is the same for many occupations, I am not claiming it is any different for us than for example school staff.

Good luck!

Choufleurfromage · 10/05/2022 10:13

Kindastrange · 10/05/2022 10:10

@Choufleurfromage the 40% isnt midwifery specific, it's the same for any degree course

www.imperial.ac.uk/students/success-guide/ug/assessments-and-feedback/improving-through-feedback/understanding-grades/

First-Class Honours (First or 1st) (70% and above)
Upper Second-Class Honours (2:1, 2.i) (60-70%)
Lower Second-Class Honours (2:2, 2.ii) (50-60%)
Third-Class Honours (Third or 3rd) (40-50%)

Thank you @Kindastrange! Slightly worrying that such a low pass-rate is required for a degree which leads one to having respnsibility for a woman and her baby though!.

MakeMineALarge1 · 10/05/2022 10:13

40% is the standard mark needed to pass an essay at Degree Level, not just nursing and midwifery!
Events such as Mid staffs and Morecambe happen due to culture, bullying, pressure to promote normal births, to reach targets, rather than what is right for mum and baby
Midwifery is much harder to get into than nursing, they normally can fill their places 10 times over.

Toddlerteaplease · 10/05/2022 10:15

I completely failed GCSE maths. But fortunately at the time my university didn't have it as an essential. I did the diploma. Been qualified as a nurse for 19 years. And you do get used to the maths. It's actually easier than at school because there is a purpose to it. Plus you now have a calcium your pocket! Some staff would make students do the working out on paper. But my view was that if I can't do it, I'm not making you do it!

MakeMineALarge1 · 10/05/2022 10:16

Sorry its all been explained above, whilst I was typing and making a brew

MakeMineALarge1 · 10/05/2022 10:20

@Choufleurfromage but where do you set the mark? It's a degree and so standard across the board to ensure fairness, nursing is the same, same responsibility,
But to pass nursing and midwifery, you have to complete your practical placements as well as the academic side

Springhassprung86 · 10/05/2022 10:21

It is a degree, however is 50% theory (research, exams, essays) and 50% clinical practice. I had to do research projects, a change in practice, academic poster presentations and a dissertation. Plus a yearly drug calculations exam which is 100% pass mark. If you think you would scrape through that but excel in the clinical practice areas then you should be ok.
to a prev poster-the course used to be very difficult to get on to; when I applied there were 2000 applicants for an approximate 20 places on the end. Al of us who were offered a place were academically able. Now there are many more places due it not being NHS funded any more. They still don’t offer a place to anyone with a pulse, though.

Springhassprung86 · 10/05/2022 10:23

@Choufleurfromage a lot of the course if based in clinical practice assessments. If you were incompetent, your mentor wouldn’t pass you.