Has anyone retrained as a midwife or something else medical in their 40s?

[BrutusMcDogface]

I’m a teacher who is desperate to retrain.

I have four kids who might make retraining difficult!

Any experiences to share?

thank you 😊

I retrained in podiatry. 2 kids. Now a podiatrist. Hard doing the degree, but got through.

As we work normal type hours I didn't have the shift side of things to worry about.

Go for it, no personal experience but considering doing the same. Good luck!!

I'm halfway through a radiography degree. The student loan and NHS bursary combined is more than my self-employed wage! It does involve lengthy clinical placements with evening and weekend shifts forming a small part of them. The studying is hard. I have A levels etc up to a Masters degree but because it was gained so long ago I was required to do an access course before i could even apply. Worth checking that out. But, once qualified there is plenty of work available and a good progression path. I'm 48 this year by the way!

OP, I did it when I was 50, also from a teaching background
MW training is hard (and you would need appropriate a levels or other quals)- there is shift work which is never given out fard in advance, meaning if you need childcare it has to be very flexible
there was lots I loved about midwifery, but don't underestimate the culture shock of moving from one profession to another and going from being confident and proficient to a novice.
although I qualified, I didn't practice- it may just have been my uni/trust but I found being a confident articulate and questioning student did not go down well- there was very much an attitude of 'this is how we do things, know your place' and I just wasn't a good fit.

have to go out now but will check in later

Have you considered educational psychology? It's funded

Or occupational therapy

I'm a midwife but trained when I was early twenties with no kids. It was tough but I enjoyed it, and do not regret going into midwifery at all. However now is a really tough time to be a midwife. Morale and working conditions are 💩 although I'm sure it's similar in teaching with long hours, no breaks, and just more and more pressure out on you. More midwives are leaving than joining in our Trust. And new starters don't seem to stick around for long at all

I agree with pp that you need really flexible childcare not just for training but for the job in general, hospital shifts are 7am until 8pm, or 7pm til 7am (although not uncommon to have to stay later). In Community my hours are 8.30 til 5pm but I have On Calls too. I have had to take a Community role as that's the only way we can juggle childcare/school runs between me and my husband.
The student midwives have to do full time hours on placement, as well as study/complete assignments. I think placement blocks are 6-8 weeks at a time. When I trained we did 30 hours per week and 4-6 week blocks. The uni are really strict on you completing your placement hours (they have to be as an NMC requirement) and holidays are set by the uni.

Have you considered taking a job as a midwifery support worker? That would give you an insight into maternity services. Not sure if it would work financially for you as it's a Band 2 or 3 role.

You gave a masters degree but had to still do an access course? That's not usual. I know someone who recently completed their midwifery degree. She is in her mid 40s. She had a non science bachelor degree from 25 years ago. She didn't have to do an access course

I double checked with general and departmental admissions at the only uni I applied to and that was the rule! Having said that, my specific course is renowned for being v physics based! I am achieving a first in every module so far though, so more than proving I am capable. I think I may have struggled without having done the access course.

I trained to be an occupational therapist qualifying at 46 with three children. I had to do an access to health course first which took a year. The course itself is very full time, unlike normal degrees, with a lot of placements but I enjoyed it even though there were many late nights doing assignments after I'd sorted my children out. (I'd say most of my assignments were worked on between 10.00pm & 2.00am). I did consider training to be a midwife but felt the shift work wasn't really compatible with my children. All in all i think it was the right choice for me, I've worked nearly 20 years in an NHS hospital mostly in A & E with elderly people and loved it.

I work in Education too and looking to retrain for something else. Good luck 👍

Thank you for all the replies! It’s encouraging to know it can be done. Now, though, my partner is fretting about the money aspect of me not earning when/if I do a course so I think I will have to look into degree apprenticeships, though I can’t see anything out there at the moment.

I’ve also considered occupational therapy, @Mossstitch.

@Soccermumamir what jobs are you looking into? Good luck to you too!

I work with three nurses on the district who trained in their 40's, one was also previously a teacher and she says she has no regrets about leaving to do nursing.

I'm thinking that I would quite like to work in the charity sector. Not sure about the role as yet, but I am interested in the business side of things. I work in admin at the moment in FE, and although the holidays are lovely, the stress of the job has become too much. There's two of us and we line manage over 70 staff. It can be very draining.

It’s hard to know where to look for other jobs, isn’t it? One thing I will say, though, is that the thought of going back to work on Monday is making me feel sick already and it’s only day 2 of the half term holiday. 😔

@BrutusMcDogface I would choose a career with more regular hours than midwifery - because you are older and have your own family. It does make life very difficult when you have shift work/ weekend or overnight work. The NHS, like teaching, is not the place it used to be to work - very stressful and understaffed

On another note - what about speech therapy? Your teaching background could be very useful in that field (I think).

I'm a midwifery lecturer, we have plenty of mature students coming through. The course is hard with shifts, etc - your childcare needs to be robust. Do seriously think about what career you want at the end of it though, if I was giving advice to someone I would say look at careers where you are more likely to be doing 1-1 care in the actual job rather than racing round a ward looking after too many people. So physio, OT, podiatrist, ODP maybe, radiography. Yes they will still be busy and pressured but hopefully not quite as bad.

Hello
I am not a teacher but mid 40s and looking to do something different with my life: also have teen/tween dc...

Hello OP
Just wanted to send sympathy, I have been there xxx

Thank you @pyrocantha 💐

What are you thinking of doing, @pyrocantha ?

I don't know.
I have done an antenatal training course, but haven't currently got evenings to make it work as dh works then too.

It’s so hard when you have responsibilities, isn’t it? Can’t just do what you want anymore, without thinking of others/bills to pay etc etc. Hopefully the right thing will be out there for both of us!

Yes I hope so Brutus.
I realised that I place a lot of value on working - prob because my mother didn't
but also on being well paid as I am not currently
highest salary I have ever had was £38k pro rata
I have twenty years experience. It's depressing