Midwifery
Back in February 2002 I decided I wanted to become a midwife! Quite what made me come to this conclusion I don’t think I will ever know - I just knew I had to do it. To that end I applied for and was accepted to study a 3 year Pre-Registration (which means I am not a nurse) BSc(Hons) degree in Midwifery at Thames Valley University in Ealing. I chose this University because it was linked to the hospital closest to my home, which coincidentally has the highest percentage of normal births in the area. I qualified as a midwife in October 2005 with a First Class Honours degree in Midwifery and started work at the hospital I trained at on Hallowe’en (fortuitous for a midwife some would say!).
Where Do I Work?
I work at the Queen Mary Maternity Unit, West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth - very convenient for home and a unit with a great reputation. I love it there and the midwives are really supportive and keen to teach me all I need to know to become a competant and safe midwife. I must confess to feeling a tad scared back in November 2002 when my third ever shift was on Labour Ward where I witnessed two babies being born! Things would only get more scary though when, as a student, the births of these babies were into my hands, instead of the midwife I was working with! It is an amazing and priviledged position to be in. I especially like the way that the West Middlesex organises it’s midwifery care into teams. This means that I can potentially see women I am caring for antenatally, during their labour and the birth of their baby and postnatally. I love this aspect of midwifery, it is amazing to see Mums and their families throughout their childbearing experience. Of course, I have been known to shed a tear on occasion!
I am currently in the final three weeks of my rotation and orientation before I join my Team and officially become a Community Midwife. I love the mixture of work that being in a team gives me. I see women for their booking, where they register with the midwives, in antenatal clinics, on Labour Ward - as a team midwife we tend to do a couple of Labour Ward shifts each week - and then postnatally. The team leader for the team I am going into - G Team - was my mentor for the final 15 months of my training and let me tell you, what she doesn’t know about midwifery isn’t worth knowing! I can only dream of becoming half the midwife that she is.
Organisations
As a student midwife, I belonged to the Royal College of Midwives (RCM). This is the first time in my life I have been a member of a Trade Union - except for the National Union of Students - and that is quite exciting for me, given the political history in my family! I am currently deciding whether to stay in the RCM as a registered midwife, or choose a more political union, such as Unison. It’s a difficult decision to make. Midwifery is regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The NMC is an organisation set up by Parliament to protect the public by ensuring that nurses, midwives and health visitors provide high standards of care to their patients and clients.
I also belong to the Association of Radical Midwives (ARM). This is an organisation which was formed back in the 1970’s by two student midwives who were disillusioned with the way maternity services were in the UK. In the mid ’70s, the majority of pregnant women in UK had labour induced by artificial rupture of membranes (ARM) around the date they were “due”. These initials were used when the group needed a name, using the dictionary definition of “radical”, (roots, origins, basics, etc.) which aptly described the basic midwifery skills which they hoped to revive. This is really important to me, as I have a personal issue with normal, healthy, birthing women being treated in a medicalised way. I believe that Midwives should not be treated as Obstetric Nurses, but as the autonomous practitioners we are meant to be! Midwives are the experts in normal birth and as such the care of most women and their families is left entirely to us, which is a lot of responsibility but responsibility I gladly accept! Of course, this does not mean that all women are low risk - but it is equally part of the midwifery role to determine when women have deviated from the normal pregnancy/birthing pathway and need to be referred to the doctors.
I have recently joined Action on Pre-Eclampsia (APEC). This is a UK charity set up in 1991 to ease and prevent suffering from pre-eclampsia and improve care and understanding of the condition. Pre-eclampsia is a complication of pregnancy which can affect both a mother and her unborn baby. Most cases are mild but at its worst the condition is life-threatening and is a significant cause of maternal and perinatal deaths in the UK and worldwide. They support women and their families affected by pre-eclampsia, as well as providing information and study days for professionals. Pre-eclampsia is one of the conditions I have dealt with frequently during my time at the hospital and I felt it was important to join, so that I can keep up-to-date on the latest developments and care for women in the best way that I possibly can.
I also regularly visit two Yahoo! groups, one called ukmidwifery and one called studentmidwivesuk. Both of these were invaluable to me whilst I was applying to study Midwifery. In addition, I also visit the Student Midwives Sanctuary, in particular the Forum, where there are constantly people chatting about all kinds of things, usually midwifery related, but sometimes not!
Books and Journals
As a student midwife, I subscribed to several Midwifery journals: British Journal of Midwifery; Midwifery Matters (journal of the ARM); Midwives (journal of the RCM); MIDIRS and the Practising Midwife. I have continued these subscriptions, as I think it is important for a midwife to keep up to date on all the current research.
Unfortunately for my bank balance (or lack thereof!), I have a book addiction, which has only worsened since I started my Midwifery degree. Some of my favourite books are: Culture, Religion and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society: A Handbook for Health Professionals by Schott & Henley; Physiology in Childbearing: With Anatomy and Related Biosciences by Stables; The New Midwifery: Science and Sensitivity in Practice by Page. There are loads more, but that will do for now - that little lot would set you back about £75! No wonder I have no money - and very dull Christmas lists! Now I have qualified, I expect to buy less books - but then I read somewhere about an interesting new book and want that too.