To re-train as a midwife?

[SlightlyWorriedMaybe]

Keen to hear from other midwives and students.

I'm early 40s, 2 kids under 6, hubby, mortgage (due for renewal Dec 2027). The course starts Sept 2026, if I'm successful.

Would it be unreasonable to re-train as a midwife? Is it possible with 2 young kids? Will it affect my mortgage chances in 2027?

I retriained when I was mid 30s. I had two young children and it was a challenge (I'd done previous degrees and this was by far the toughest). I had to be a mum, a student and complete work placements. I missed holidays with my children because their summer holidays fell differently to mine etc. but I love my job and it was amazing to graduate with my children being there.

However would I train now, probably not. They have increased student numbers so now students are fighting to get their numbers. Their experience isn't always great because there can be too many students in one area. Also for the past few years there has been a struggle to get jobs after. This year a lot of the trusts in my area have put a freeze on recruitment so students are either not getting a job as a midwife or having to work far from home, after accruing three years of student debt. Hopefully this will change in the next 10 years but it's not a great situation at the moment.

Hi OP, I began my training aged 50 after a career in a different sector
I qualified but did not practice as I could not get a job in my local trust (and did not want to travel)
I was left with the strong impression this was because I was noticed as being outspoken (in a polite way of course) and questioning- the very things our university expected us to be. Other students who were less qualified but more amenable got jobs.
My DC were all at uni themselves or later in secondary school so no childcare issues but i cant stress enough how flexible your childcare needs to be as we often didn't know our shifts till almost the day before.
I see you already have a degree and I would caution that your expectations of what a degree course involves may be at odds with what you experience. It took me a few assignments to realise that my academic background (social science) was not helpful, in fact the reverse, and critical thinking, wide reading, and building an argument were not required.
Lastly I would say that an awful lot depends on your mentors- some are great and others not, and this really affects your learning experience.
Having said all that I loved the job and don't regret doing it at all- but I had the luxury of a paid off mortgage and a partner with a secure income, so the risk was slight.

So, I live in Merseyside, locally there is Liverpool Womens, Arrowe Park and the Countess of Chester.

I've got my preference to where I'd want to be.

There are jobs currently.

If you got given shifts you couldn't do, is there opportunity to swap them?

No idea about the mortgage side of things but I did consider this a while ago and a friend of mine who is a midwife, renowned in her field and now a college lecturer, and she literally sat me down and told me the ins and outs of it and by that I mean she told me the brutal truth of having to deal with stillbirth etc.

Have you really got what it takes to deal with that before you go career jumping and risking it all??

Please be honest with yourself on that as it's not all sweetness and sunshine, it really can be horrific.

Not to piss on your chips but sometimes we all need a little reality check in the area that you're not looking at if you get what I mean.

We could swap the odd shift but overall no.

You have a mentor for each placement and are generally expected to work the same shifts they do, although this didn't have to be 100% of the time.

It also depends on the shift coordinator or band 7 who is doing the off duties. By my third year, the delivery suite coordinator was pretty relaxed and let me put down what shifts I wanted to do, however postnatal you were told what yiu were on with very little room for change.

Sometimes you don't get your shifts till the week before so doesn't leave much time for planning. Plus, expect to work nights. Especially when trying to get your numbers. You need to deliver 40 babies to qualify, and babies like to be born at night!

Thanks for this. I feel that, given my experiences, I can offer what is needed in relation to still births etc.

Thank you for not taking that the wrong way and I'm sorry you have that deeper understanding ❤️

Nurse here not midwife but recently qualified in my mid 40s.
the shifts are exhausting - 12 hours on your feet and although some people like it because you get more days off than working 9-5 I was knackered at the end of a shift and had no time with the kids on working days. Also I despised night shifts - could never get the sleep right and just felt like a zombie.
As others have said things feel pretty bleak in the nhs at the moment and there’s also so many more complex patients than I’ve ever known and the system can feel quite broken and frustrating at times. I had worked in the nhs for a long time before the course so was aware of some of the issues but had not spent much time on wards and things felt much more relentless in hospitals than community nursing.
I also had a previous degree but found the nursing degree so tough.
I work in community nursing which is much more family friendly and I really love my job though it is quite a specialist area and feels very different to my experiences on placement.
it would be really useful to get some experience within an inpatient setting if you can before applyIng just to see if it’s what you’re expecting.

i trained in 2016 - I had 6 young children and although it was tough, I managed. Your age isn’t a problem, there’s such a mix of ages on the course. Jobs wise, I’ve not seen a student midwife yet not get a job, I’m not sure about other areas though. I’d say fully research the course and the job, it’s changed a lot even since I qualified in 2019! The degree also opens the doors for other jobs too