Experiences of student midwife

[partyskirt]

My midwife asked if I would be happy to have a student midwife on board for the pregnancy and also at the labour. I said no, but now feel bad. Has anyone agreed to this and had a positive experience?

I did and regretted it. It was 27 years ago and I was a very naive first timer. I remember the midwife talking to the student male afterwards asking what he thought of midwifery. His reply was horrible and upsetting. And she was wrong to ask him with me there I think.

A student delivered DS and she was fab. To be fair she was due to qualify a couple of weeks later and had delivered many more than the required amount of babies.
Thinking back though, I don't remember anyone asking if I minded. Though I was pretty far gone by the time I got into the delivery room and went straight for the gas and air so there is every possibility they did ask. I'll ask DP later.

I agreed to have a Physiotherapy student in with me with DC3. I was delivered by a consultant - long story to do with fractured pelvis and a perineum that couldnt take any more damage - but I had an epidural and the whole experience was actually very pleasant. The consultant decided to turn it into a lesson on how to deliver without damaging the perineum to quite a few other midwives and think he was showing off .

The student was totally delightful, sat beside me, and cried buckets after DS was born and I let her hold him. She said she would never forget this moment, or his name. Bless! Happy days!

I like to think that my delivery contributed to a few less stitches in the future!

I always say yes to students. The more they see/do under supervision as students, the better they'll be once they're qualified.
A student MW did a very good job of delivering DD2. Her supervising MW stood quietly & watched from the corner of the room and I think it was more reassuring to have an observer!

Laundry, I said I didn't want it to be a circus.

There is a good chance I will have a highly medicalised birth, in which case, I accept there will be lots of people there.

However if I have a natural vaginal birth there is no need for it, and having the mother stressed by loads of people chatting, gawking etc is potentially detrimental to labour. That's why I said one is fine but not a gaggle.

Also people saying it's "mean" or "they will be supervised, nothing to worry about" have you read madwoman's post? Seriously, have some sensitivity.

I said no students and I think that's fine.

I had an experience of being induced and being on a ward and a doctor coming with a troupe of students, barking through my notes, talking about me as if I wasn't there. No Thanks!

When I was in labour, I didn't want anyone else other than the necessary in the room.

In retrospect, it may have been fine if the student was confident and calm. You just don't know.

I had student midwives at ante natal classes and now at post natal appointments, they have all been good and done things such as take BP, asked basic questions and weighed the baby.

I think that everyone has to learn somewhere and it's a good opportunity that they can learn from, especially as others say, they are heavily supervised so I didn't or haven't seen it as a problem.

I had a student midwife and she was amazing, words can't describe how good she was. She was very courteous and helpful the whole way through, I was a second timer so in my mind I'd been there, done that. So wasn't especially bothered about being used as a learning experience. It was good for her in the end as DS2 was an awkward birth that if I hadn't had her in the end I would have had forceps etc. As it stood I managed it on my own and she was instrumental in that.

I had a student midwife when I had ds1, she was fantastic. Ds1 is 27 and I often think of her and wonder if she is still a midwife. Student Nurse Bradley, you rocked!

I had a student doctor at one of my births. It was a last minute 'Can xxxx watch your birth as she needs to have so many births to pass the course?' She just stood at the end of the bed, didn't touch me or baby, barely spoke but just observed.
Student nurses/doctors/midwives have to see a set number of normal births to qualify MW is 40. They don't have to intervene or touch they just need to be there and observe. You can request she refrains from getting actively involved

I wrote yes to student midwives, no to medical students on my birth plan. The student midwife was lovely, always there but not oppressive or interfering. It was her last delivery before she qualified and was very competent. She was with me for her whole shift but my labour stopped and I actually apologised to her that she didn't get to deliver dd before she went off shift and I went for an emcs.
Another student midwife gave me a bed bath after I came back from theatre after the emcs. It was one of the kindest, most gentle things that anyone has ever done for me and I'll never forget it.

I completely agree with Dino, it's the medical students I feel sorry for, particularly the men, on their obstetric placements. They often find it difficult to get women's permission to witness births, when seeing a natural birth would be the best way to begin their training. And they are usually lovely too. One young guy got to witness a waterbirth the other day though, and he was ecstatic about it. He came out and told the SHO, "you should see one of those!"

partyskirt it sounds like this is a caseholding scheme - it's where a senior student who is usually soon to qualify follows you through your pregnancy and is on call for the birth, then does the postnatal care at home too. It is all supervised, of course. In my final year I looked after 6 women in this way and it was a fabulous experience, for me and I think for them too! They just ended up getting a lot more care, continuity and a more personal experience than they would have otherwise. However, in your shoes I'd feel wary, because it sounds like you haven't met the student! In my case I booked all the women and then asked them if they would mind me being involved, so they knew who they were getting into bed with, so to speak.

Sorry to divert the thread but something Lavendar said upthread resonated with me:

"I don't like it when the doctor does rounds and they have a bunch of students trailing behind them. Especially if the doctor is all self important and doesn't even say good morning before doing what they do."

I was a no to medical students when having DS although I had one student MW for a short spell. I was rushed into hospital earlier this week with abdominal pain and the consultant was exactly as you describe: breezed in with 12 students, barked at me, barked at them and then made one poor lad look like a right muppet in front of his peers (he was trying). The students then fought over my notes as to who could come into surgery to watch and had some sort of in joke going and they giggled at a few things I said. I had no idea that surgery was an option at this point and I was in too much pain and too terrified to deal with it as well as I could have. I said I didn't want any more students in attendance as I was too distressed. Was brusquely told by a nurse that I was being silly and that I had had a baby so why was I anxious or embarrassed? They had to learn etc etc. At this point the female registrar became involved and said that my wishes would be respected and they were booted out. No idea if they were in the OT in the end or not and I had initially welcomed a few of them in but there was just something off about how it was all dealt with - no request for consent, no introductions, just "here's a bird with an exploding ovary, who wants a feel?!".

Sounds a bit silly I suppose but in very unfamiliar and terrifying circumstances it really mattered.

I don't think I've ever refused a student for anything including at smear tests etc but I wouldn't think less of someone who did, especially in a medical situation where you are particularly vulnerable. I think the only thing I would never let a student do is take blood but that's purely based on my own awful bad experience.

It's one of those things that's an incredibly personal decision.

I would have loved a student midwife and was fine with a student doctor shadowing a registrar/consultant who was there to treat me. However I was very clear that I would not consent to gaggles of students in ward rounds, for the reasons others have given.

I had a student midwife in on my first pregnancy, she was really sweet and everything was done under the supervision of the experienced mw. And when it came to the birth for all I cared the hospital porter could have been delivering my baby (gotta love the pethidine)

Ruby - you were not being "silly". Please consider contacting PALS and formally complaining about the nurse, the surgeon and the lack of your informed consent for students and the way you were treated.

I hope your wishes were respected during your surgery. unlikely

I had one with DD2. She was lovely and actually delivered her. My main midwife was horrendous, so I was just grateful to have a kind person about.

I had a student midwife with me for the birth of my first DC and felt entirely at ease with her. She was closely supervised by her mentoring midwife throughout . My birth experience wasn't particularly fun but that was nothing to do with the medical staff or hospital. I wasn't asked however until I got to the hospital in active labour. Am currently ttc #2 and would like to think that I would allow a student midwife or a medical student to be with me this time too if there was one who needed the experience. I appreciate that you have to play things by ear and every situation is different. However in any professional role you need to gain experience whilst training and I am forever grateful to those who allowed me to gain experience when training ( in an entirely different non healthcare profession I might add!!)

I had 2x senior midwives and a student at both my home births, in both cases the students delivered my babies and did a grand job (well caught the second one as they walked in the door). Both were chuffed to bits as they were their first home births and said that their fellow students would be very jealous. I did have very easy and stright forward deliveries. I didn't know any of the midwives (other than my community mw for dc1) so it made no difference to me whether they were a student or not and they were under constant supervision of 2 senior midwives.

I am a bit shocked to read some peoples stories that the 2nd mw present was a student instead of a senior mw. I thought protocol was that 2 mw's were to be present for delivery so I would assume that a student didn't qualify for that?

I had a student midwife for the births of DS2 and DS5. DS2 was delivered by the student midwife and I like to think I helped with somebody's training. DS5 was a crash C-section and I was really upset that the student midwife hadn't got to deliver him but she was lovely and said that she was still really grateful I'd allowed her to be at my birth and let her look after me in HDU.

I had a 3rd year student midwife at my labour. My labour was long and I found it a bit annoying to have every examination done twice, but she was very nice and I felt really pleased for her about how much she was learning. I'm fully supportive of students and it's not like they're not supervised so I don't see the problem. I'd let another one do my next pregnancy.

Blimey if we don't accommodate students where will experienced midwives come from?
Speaking as a midwife- we all have to learn no midwives come ready made!!