Nursing & Midwifery

[ukMummyof]

Hi,
I'm really stuck so just hoping someone can give me a little tip!
My main career goal in life is Midwifery, I'm so drawn to it and honestly couldn't see myself doing anything else career wise.
I've sent in my application to UCAS and have secured myself a couple of interviews. Unfortunately for the main university I wanted to go to I didn't have the grades they wanted but they have offered me adult nursing instead. I understand I can go this route to Midwifery either by completing the course and then going onto midwifery (however, this would be 6 years and A LOT of debt!) or by seeing if the tutors would allow me to transfer over to midwifery before the start of 2nd year- although I've been recommended to only suggest this to tutors once securing my place.

My question is, I have my interview for the adult nursing course coming up and although I do feel somewhat passionate about nursing as it's still in the medical field and know I do have the potential to complete it- how do I now convince the interviewers that I have the potential, especially where my personal statement speaks only of Midwifery?

I don't want them to think I'm using this as a stepping stone, or they may choose someone else who is interested in staying in nursing if that makes sense!

How would you approach this interview?

Thank you in advance :)

Hi there I am a midwife. You could say you are interested in becoming a heath visitor after qualifying. However if your heart is set on midwifery I would pursue midwifery instead. I have never heard about the possibility of transfer in the 2nd year. The midwifery course is very intense from week 1, and it's specialist knowledge. Doing 2 degrees would be a lot of debt. I suggest you try getting into healthcare assistant role in your nearest hospital. Even if you have to volunteer first. Some hospital run midwifery apprenticeships. Working in a hospital would definitely help with interview questions. I hope it helps and good luck

Wouldn’t you be better off applying for an access course whilst doing work experience and applying after that? I wish you well!

I agree with pp, do an access course then the midwifery degree.

Don't bother with nursing and then midwifery. Waste of money and a space for someone who actually wants to be a nurse. As above, do access or whatever it takes to get the grades.

Oh and also I have never heard of transferring during the course either

Thank you everyone! This is exactly what I'm thinking so it's nice to feel like others are thinking the same. It also worries me to go into a degree without my WHOLE heart in it- even if it is a stepping stone. My heart is in Midwifery and I do have a couple of interviews for midwifery so I think I'll just continue with just those.
Regarding the transferring, this was said by the university. They said that whilst some universities offer a shortened midwifery courses of 18 months if you are already a nurse, they do it slightly different and some students have just transferred over. They said often students do it if they aren't enjoying the course but others do it as an actual plan with tutors.

Thank you for this! I'm currently a healthcare assistant which I believe has definitely helped me to get the interviews. The health visitor tip is great too :)

Nursing lecturer here. I'm guessing your level 3 qualifications are not at the level a midwifery course asks for but enough to secure an adult nursing place?

If so I would be wary of any promises to be able to transfer from adult nursing into midwifery - for a number of reasons that's unlikely to be possible as midwifery is so much more popular (hence the higher requirements)

I wouldn't worry too much about a UCAS statement focusing on midwifery as it's fairly usual to be interviewing applicants who initially applied for midwifery. We generally hear students say that they realise it would be helpful/give more options to have an adult nursing qualification. Given that most universities struggle to recruit adult nursing students ( and we really need the money from their fees at the moment.)I would also be suspicious that's partly why they indicated a transfer to midwifery might be possible. Therefore I don't think you'd have too much trouble at an interview and to secure an offer for adult nursing.

BTW There are sometimes opportunities for secondments to the shortened midwifery training by employers for Registered Adult Nurses.

it used to be that the midwifery course was 18 months if you were a qualified nurse. And you were paid as a staff nurse while you trained. I would ask if this is still the case. You’ve got more career opportunities if you’re a nurse and a midwife (even in midwifery).

I’m a midwifery lecturer. Firstly you would not be able to transfer into midwifery at the end of year 2 due to NMC requirements regarding hours in placement. These need to be midwifery hours, your nursing hours would not count.

I guess in the interview just think about the reasons you wanted to do midwifery which are still very applicable to nursing. So supporting people, being an advocate, helping people make informed choices about their care. If you are currently a hcsw you will have a good idea of current issues in the nhs which you should be able to talk about. Six Cs, stuff like that. Can you think of examples of times where you have demonstrated those values? You can talk about the increased amount of opportunities available in nursing compared to midwifery, so more specialist roles, and then also pathways available to both such as NICU nurse.

This has all been really helpful so I really appreciate all of your comments- thank you! xxx

Really sorry as this is a little bit off topic!
I've been thinking about it a lot recently and just want to make sure I'm not making any mistakes in interviews.
As a midwifery lecturer, would you encourage students to refer to women as 'pregnant women' or 'pregnant people'. I know the usual term is women but with it being 2025 and inclusivity I don't want to upset anyone or lose any marks in interviews- would appreciate some guidance :))

Hmmm, I really dislike the term pregnant people. Midwifery is about biological fact and biological women get pregnant. Obviously if someone specific chooses to use different pronouns then as a midwife I would use what pronoun they wanted. But if I’m talking in general about pregnant women I would say women. I’d never say pregnant people, i might say service users. I think if you wanted to hedge your bets service users could be a good one. You shouldn’t lose marks in an interview either way.

Thank you soo much for your reply!
I think I'm just over thinking everything because I want it so desperately!!
Service user is a great one for the interview just in case I think- I appreciate it :))

Have you thought about doing an access course to get the grades you need for your main uni? Or are the other unis still within travelling distance? Do you not have enough overall ucas points or is it science you need?

I've got an interview for the access course for If I don't get into midwifery so definitely leaving that as an option. Both universities I've applied for are just as close to me as each other so fingers crossed 🤞

Good luck, remember to keep an eye out at clearing as well if necessary.