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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

My personal statement for uni- midwifery.

25 replies

Ariesbaby89 · 07/12/2020 03:14

I am applying for next year and this is my personal statement so far;

For as long as I can remember I have always had an interest in midwifery! It would be such an honour to support women through such a life changing, but amazing experience. I understand that midwifery isn’t just about babies, but the mothers too and giving them the best care is so important! I believe that every woman deserves to receive brilliant and safe healthcare, regardless of backgrounds, race or religion.

I am definitely ready to pursue this career, I will put 100% into this. I have personal experience with the care of midwives and I was so grateful for the services I received! I have done a lot of research and I understand this course won’t be easy and there is a lot of work involved but I am willing to put everything into this if I am given the chance!

Any tips? Tia

OP posts:

Imnotaslimjim · 07/12/2020 03:22

It's good but could you show how any experience you have had makes you the best person to pick? When I applied for nursing, I explained how working in a factory taught me how to work well in a team while working in a call centre showed me how to trust my own initiative and instincts, that kind of thing.

It's obvious that you want this a lot, good luck!

WishUponAStar88 · 07/12/2020 03:26

I agree I would put in personal experience, so how have your previous/ current jobs or studies prepared you. I would also replace all the exclamation marks with full stops.

GlennRheeismyfavourite · 07/12/2020 03:44

Take out the exclamation marks and replace with full stops

SummerHeatwave · 07/12/2020 03:58

What's your personal experience with the care of midwives? What services did you receive? What research have you done? What other life experience do you have? Put in more detail so they know more about you. You have a maximum of 47 lines to use so use them to sell yourself. Good luck!

choosername1234 · 07/12/2020 04:06

Take out the exclamation marks

Midwifery is about women first, then babies. Midwife translates as "with women"

Talk about empowering women, through providing knowledge & skilled assistance, to make their own individual empowered decisions regarding their bodies and childbirth

Do you have any experience of safeguarding? How might you be able to support vulnerable women in your care?

What experience do you have of teamwork? Or leadership? Have you ever had to make difficult decisions or make decisions quickly whilst under pressure?

Original poster

Ariesbaby89 · 07/12/2020 05:34

I’ve took out the exclamation marks. I’ve got 3 kids so antenatal care etc... thanks so much for the replies! My last ‘job’ was a carer for my nan, before that I worked in a supermarket.

OP posts:

Bunnylove83 · 07/12/2020 05:42

Head of sixth form here so reading many a personal statement at the moment. I would:

reference your caring work as that is hugely important.
explain as a mature student (i assume) why now are you applying and what you can offer the course and the professional because of this
give insight to knowing about the safeguarding responsibilities that midwives have and reference in some way the NMC
explain how/why you will be an appropriate role model to people at such a vulnerable time
explain how your educational experiences have prepared you for a challenging stem course
acknowledge an area of midwifery that you are passionate about such as mental health or how the service has changed as a result of covid
you mention ‘research’ but what is it? Books/blogs/work shadowing - give examples

Happy to read the next version for you.

Bunnylove83 · 07/12/2020 05:53

Oh, and a couple more things to mull over:

you mention inclusion regardless of background, race or religion, but do you have any examples of how you have demonstrated this commitment to equality? For example, have you got an example of how you are bringing up your own children to believe this, or did you do equal opps training at the supermarket?

you mention ‘brilliant’ healthcare but what does this look like within the field of midwifery? For example, how will you look to overcome the huge diversity of what mothers consider to be brilliant midwifery i.e. the choices between home birth and hospital birth, the need for a different healthcare offer for low and high risk, the massive financial constraints the NHS is working in etc ...

You will exceed the word limit by writing all of this, but I always suggest writing everything you have to say and then editing rather than worrying about it so not communicating enough about yourself.

HotelliFinlandia · 07/12/2020 06:39

I'd also not recommend posting it here - or anywhere online! Anybody can lift it and if there are a few people sending in almost the same text, they will more than likely reject them all - too much hassle to find if one is the true author or they all copied it. Hopefully nobody would actually do it, but just FYI.

HotelliFinlandia · 07/12/2020 06:39

*sending in to the same uni.

BabbleBee · 07/12/2020 06:47

Personally, I’d lose the ‘life changing, amazing experience’. Pregnancy and childbirth often isn’t amazing, and it comes across as your glamorising the career, which is common.

BabbleBee · 07/12/2020 06:47

*you’re

MarchingFrogs · 07/12/2020 11:24

Echoing @HotelliFinlandia's advice, I would actually ask for your draft to be deleted from your post, if I were you. And definitely rephrase it quite substantially before submitting the final version.

titchy · 07/12/2020 11:38

Currently you sound like a 17 year old with no understanding, maturity or experience to offer. Sorry.

But others have given good guidance. And don't post it here - personal statements are run through plagiarism software which searches the internet and any similarities flagged. That of course also means don't copy what people here suggest.

Original poster

Ariesbaby89 · 07/12/2020 12:14

@titchy

Currently you sound like a 17 year old with no understanding, maturity or experience to offer. Sorry.

Of course I don’t have any experience, hence why I want to get a degree and study this subject.

OP posts:

Phphion · 07/12/2020 14:18

But you do have relevant experience.

In caring for your nan, you presumably have experience of being with someone when they are vulnerable, perhaps when they are afraid or in pain. You may even have experience of loss. You may, as a carer, have experience of dealing with medical professionals.

Through your supermarket work, you have experience of dealing with people, possibly of working under pressure, doing a variety of tasks with little to no notice, working as part of a team, perhaps working unsociable hours.

Through your own children, you have experience of being on the other side of the midwife / patient divide and you can draw upon that experience in understanding how expectant / new mothers may feel and the small touches that would improve the situation for them.

Your personal statement cannot be a bunch of wishy-washy platitudes. You need to provide evidence that you understand what being a midwife actually involves.

titchy · 07/12/2020 14:36

But most people wanting to do midwifery, nursing, medical, physio etc degrees do a lot of work experience before hand. I'd suggest getting some outside the home caring experience ASAP as you'll be competing with those that have.

Caring for your grandmother is great, but can you add some outside the family experience? Volunteer at a care home? Spend a couple of weeks shadowing midwives? Voluntary work supporting new mothers eg sure start?

Baaaahhhhh · 07/12/2020 15:32

Get rid of the first sentence completely, just a bit meh, everyone says that. Replace with the last sentence of first paragraph, which gives your introduction more strength.

You have already taken out the exclamations, good.

I don't like the first sentence of your second paragraph either (or in fact the whole second paragraph), again it's a bit off, and obvious. "I am fully committed to a career in midwifery. Having experienced excellent care and support during my pregnancy and delivery, and having done extensive research since, I am now in a position to pursue the relevant degree. I am particularly interested in Blah blah specific areas of interest and concern......

Hope this is not too harsh, good luck. It is an amazing career to pursue.

OliStryder · 07/12/2020 16:08

You should NEVER start a PS with 'for as long as I can remember'

LilyE1234 · 07/12/2020 16:15

Midwifery is such a competitive degree to try and get a place on. You really need to try and make yourself stand out. Try and get a job as an HCA or maternity care assistant. Or even just a volunteer role at the hospital or care home - something that shows your care for people and can graft.

My friend just qualified as a midwife and she had a psychology degree as well as science a levels. She ended up volunteering with SEN children to add to her personal statement. My sister is training to be a nurse and she worked as a hospital cleaner and a volunteer in the hospital shop to help get her into uni.

Hayeahnobut · 07/12/2020 16:19

My last ‘job’ was a carer for my nan

This is your most relevant experience, not having your own children.

You come across as very enthusiastic, but I'd be concerned that you've romanticised the idea of what midwives do, "life changing... amazing... brilliant". Try to use less emotive language, the tutors are looking for substance, not fluff.

slidingdrawers · 07/12/2020 16:44

Enthusiasm is important but to get beyond the shortlisting stage, the admissions tutors who'll be reading your PS will want to know what you individually bring, your transferable skills, that you understand role of a midwife, are academically suited to degree study and able to embark on a very intensive course and why you stand out from the rest. For context the University I am connected to has around 1000 applications for 45 places. To help you research the role, Midwifery 2020 and Better Births are relevant resources. Good luck.

wellhellohi · 07/12/2020 21:32

You need to be clear in how you meet the criteria for the course.

PastaAndPizzaPlease · 09/12/2020 18:31

Have a read through the NHS constitution and 5 C’s of caring and built knowledge of this into your statement.
Agree highlight your caring experience - what did it teach you about empowering the people you’re being cared for.

Thirtyrock39 · 09/12/2020 18:41

I think you will likely need some more experience in a health or caring role to be honest. Midwifery is really competitive. It is also massively stressful so admissions tutors will want to see you have a realistic idea of what it will involve ideally through some experience in a health setting - this would be really useful for you as well to be sure this is definitely the career for you, there are always health care assistant jobs recruiting in the nhs, I would apply for one of these and get some good experience before applying.
Agree with changing 'amazing' experience - as a midwife you will experience still births, miscarriages, babies born into unsafe families or addicted to drugs, aggressive patients, terminations . You need to show you have an awareness of the reality of the career.

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