Midwife appointments

[cloclo92]

Hi ladies.

I had my booking appointment a while back and I saw a stand in midwife whilst mine was away sick with a trainee student in the background.

I have just had my 16 week app today. My midwife was there on the reception but my actual appointment was carried out by a student.

Is this normal? It would be nice to actually see my midwife by now and have someone to answer my questions who's had years of experience and not just a student as nice as she was.

Was the student not able to answer your questions? Her age doesn't mean she doesn't know anything or that she isn't doing all the checks correctly. Students are usually supervised, are you sure she's not newly qualified.

Unfortunately I only saw my official midwife once during my second pregnancy due to her always being on holiday/day off on my appointment days.

Also when I gave birth to my first baby the midwife was very young, I'd say early 20's but she was much nicer than the older midwife I had with my second.

I wouldn't fix on having 'your' midwife, as I saw a different one at every appointment, maybe 6 different people over as many months

If the student couldn’t answer your questions, couldn’t you have asked her to go and check with the midwife? As per the PP depending on your area you don’t always have the same midwife for all of your appointments.

I would imagine that to do the appointment alone she’s probably close to being qualified otherwise the main midwife would have been in the appointment too

hi yes it's pretty normal and she will be capable of doing these appointments by now in her training if she's being left to do so.if anything she might be a bit more thorough but I wouldn't worry about her not knowing what to do or or not being able to notice something that perhaps she needs to.I think by this point she's probably done heaps of blood pressure checks and urine checks and I'm sure she's quite good at measuring bumps and working out where babies laid and listening to heartbeats etc.

I do understand though that you would like toeet you're own midwife to be fair.I was very lucky because with both of my children I had two lovely midwives that worked every other week with each other so you always got one or the other. It was lovely because I actually got to see them again with my second baby. I think that they were a big part of my journey as well because by the end of it I knew them so well. I actually bump into one of them in ASDA and my kids are 5 and 2 now and she still remembers them being born.

Is it at 16-weeks you hear the heartbeat for the first time?

Hopefully you'll get to see her at your 24 week appointment.if I remember properly at the 20-week scan you see a midwife after your scan but it won't necessarily be the midwife your under.

But yeah I don't worry it was always students and trainees when I had my kids too. I had my kids at Nottingham hospital city. They had many students and stuff that were learning and training on the job.I always thought they knew what they were doing there was just one student that really hurt when she touched my bum but other than that they will perfectly professional and did the job just as well.

The students I had were always with my main midwife. Then when I went to have the kids I met several on the 3 days I was in around the births.

My first booking appointment was with a stand in midwife and I'm sure I've had another midwife at another point as well as 'mine' and a student.

It depends on their leave/any training they may be needed for so it isn't always guaranteed to be 'your' midwife. Students tend to be really thorough and fountains of info in my experience. At antenatal classes I found there was ample opportunity to ask questions to midwives with more service as such but nothing I absolutely needed to know as I could source it myself

Yes this is normal, I saw 2 different community midwives with 2 students. Then different again at delivery. The students are supervised. It is very unusual to just see 1 midwife.

The student will more than likely be in her 3rd year and close to qualifying.

When I was a student I was EXTRA cautious with everything. No harm will have come of it.

Second what PP said 'your' midwife. Its nice to build a rapport up with someone but in reality its not always possible.

Is this normal?
Yes, the student will most likely be a 3rd year who is due to qualify soon. As part of qualifying 3rd year student midwives are able to work under indirect supervision once competent. 3rd year students also have their own caseload of women towards the end of their training where they provide antenatal and postnatal care, they can also attend the births.

It would be nice to actually see my midwife by now and have someone to answer my questions who's had years of experience and not just a student as nice as she was yes it would be nice to see your own midwife for consistency, your midwife is probably part of a community team where the midwives have to cover holidays/sickness etc, so in order for you to have your appointment on time unfortunately sometimes you may not see your named midwife. If you’re not happy seeing a student you’re within your rights to decline. Also sometimes years of experience isn’t always a positive thing...

FoxtrotSkarloey in England we are moving to a continuity of carer model where community teams will have a caseload of women who they see antenatally and postnatally in the community. There will also be someone from the team on a rota basis so women are more likely to be seen my a midwife they know. Unfortunately though, there’s still the same issues that you may not also see your designated midwife due to sickness/holidays ect...

I wouldn’t focus too much on seeing the same midwife all the time (it’s a nice opportunity to get to know different ones in case one of them will deliver your baby).

Going against the grain here but I would not be OK with a student midwife doing my appointments. I’m very insistent on this one: I want only fully licensed medical professionals. Esspecially during pregnancy when it’s not only about your health but about your baby’s health as well. It’s absolutely not a strange demand and it has nothing to do with not allowing a student to ‘practice’ on you.

Sorry I meant the midwives will also work on the labour ward/birth centre, so women are more likely to see a midwife they know when they have their baby.

Going against the grain here but I would not be OK with a student midwife doing my appointments. I’m very insistent on this one. I want only fully licensed medical professionals you can of course decline being seen by a student. Midwives are at all times accountable for the student, students do not work independently and are infact working under the midwives registration.

Goodness, if everyone woman had the attitude of ‘not wanting a student to practice on here, there’d be no bloody midwives! They have to train & learn how to be a midwife somehow! Similarly with something like student teachers, you could argue your child’s education should always be delivered by a qualified teacher but again, there’d be no teachers if students didn’t practice teaching! I say this having been a teacher, I was planning & taking lessons for a while half term by the end of my training with no qualified teacher in site!

I imagine much the same for midwives, the closer they get to qualifying, the more responsibility they naturally get - bear in mind 3rd years will be finishing up in May time and qualifying. So only a 3/4 months & they will be fully qualified!

My midwife (who is now off sick) was being shadowed by a second year student & they were never left alone. The student ran the whole appointment but my midwife was there & double checked the urine test & stomach measurements (they don’t listen to the HB in my trust at any point in pregnancy). The student was so lovely & thorough, I’m sad she’s gone!

I’ve since seen 3 different midwives, all really nice. I don’t much care to be honest but my pregnancy is straightforward. They all know their stuff, are all very friendly.. what else do you need?

@Bol87

Then it’s great for them that there are people like you who don’t mind being seen by a student.

But I think everyone is perfectly entitled to make choices regarding THEIR body and if they don’t match with yours, it doesn’t mean that they’re odd.