Midwife? Doula? Something else?

[Pferdenuts]

Just thought I'd pop my 2c worth in.

I have just completed my Graduate Diploma and will register as a midwife shortly. I went the RN route.

If you go the BMid route, you are limited in where you will be able to work. Most rural and regional hospitals will not employ a midwife who is not an RN. Many larger hospitals also prefer RN/RMs as maternity wards often cater for gynaecology and surgical patients as well. It's a sad fact of our health system. BMid also carries a high entrace rank, in NSW it is well over 90, as the courses are VERY popular. Nursing can be entered for as low as 60. Grad Dips are also done via distance education, while you work in a maternity unit. You gain far more practical experience in a Grad Dip - you need 1500 hours, while a BMid need only 700 hours over the entire 3 years! I don't understand this at all, but that's what the Board states. Beware though, as of 2014, postgraduate training for RN's goes out to 18 months rather than the 12 months it is at present. Gotta love our new board. If I had the choice, I'd do the double degree - more places are starting to offer this, and I'd keep an eye on Charles Sturt as they are excellent at distance ed and are bringing this out shortly. UNE also do RN by correspondence which you could follow with CSU grad dip.

The other thing I don't like about the BMid, is that the students do very little with sick babies. I needed to do 200 hours in a special care nursery or NICU, whereas the BMids in the same place do only 32 hours. That's it. I'm not sure if it's the same at all unis, but that's pretty poor! They also pretty much ignore the fact that women have co-morbidities these days. It's a wonderful ideal to train midwives for "normal" but it is just that - an ideal. With today's obstetric led care, intervention and complexity become commonplace.

Oh dear, ranting again! Ha ha I tend to do that. LOL.

[glorious]

I would disagree with 90% of what Pferdenuts said. Not sure how your ranting "again" when it is your first post?
Most regional hospitals are employing BMIDs, they have to as there are few RN/Ms coming through now. tertiary hospitals take anyone and Midwives(only) do look after women as we are able to care for all degrees of women. I know in my BMID i did a hell of a lot (way more then we should) with sick babes. AND there is a very large proportion focusing on the common issues women have nowadays and how that effects pregnancy as we are educated in how to educate them about improving their life and the future for their babies.
The Focus on Midwifery is that it is for normal women and pregnancies and when it moves out of our scope we refer the woman to a suitable model (ideally with us still involved)
A registered nurse has less requirements then a BMID to complete for registration.

In adelaide you have the choice of 2 universities Flinders and UniSA if your not a science head try for UniSA as flinders is definitely a more science based course. UniSa you can get in via a few ways Stat test, previous degree, highschool grades, or foundation studies (course designed for those who have not studied in a LONG time and never at a tertiary level.)
if the current law that is trying to get through gets through there is no point in becoming a doula as midwifery will be a protected profession which means that doulas may find they have a hard time getting work as it does cross some of the midwifery barriers.

I chose not to do nursing as i can not stand dealing with old people.. my focus has always been on women centered care (yes i can do that with a gynea patient) and evidence based practice. and Old man balls freak me OUT!!

[Pferdenuts]

A registered nurse has less requirements then a BMID to complete for registration.

Not in the degrees I researched. 700 hours for BMid. 900 hours for RN. I don't know how they got it approved. This is in NSW mind you. Others are a bit better, but again, the approval process is changing with this new board and a lot of it doesn't make sense. In the health district I work, even the regional hospitals will not take RM only. There are plenty of RN/RMs coming through, we just graduated a class of 50 with 88 following. It's getting bigger and bigger, at least in the Eastern states! Agree on the doula part - they are trying to make doulas illegal after some homebirth incidents, so it probably isn't worth it until that's all resolved.

Oh, and I hate old man balls too, lol.

Not sure how your ranting "again" when it is your first post?

Other forums. I'm not exactly silent on the subject. What does that matter to you anyway?

[My Three Sons]

It absolutely depends on which state you are in. NSW is probably a little slower than the other states in regards to BMID. I believe in QLD Postgrad is actually on it's way out, and they will be expected to complete the BMID (I assume with a fair few credits) if they wish to become midwives. That is my understanding anyway.
FWIW- I just finished my BMID, and I had to do WELL over 1000 hours of clinical. I had 1150 ish I believe PLUS my follow through hours, which are quite substantial also. Clinical/ Prac hours are not the only on the job experience hours required when you do BMID- follow through or continuity of care journeys are a MASSIVE component. I had 80 hours on a special care placement, however we also managed some unwell babies in their mothers rooms, so these were also added to our sick babies unit. We spent a LOT of 2nd year on other medical issues that may complicate pregnancy (Or pregnancy may complicate the health issues) and I feel confident in the learning I have received. Having worked with many midwives, I can honestly say, that you can't tell who is from which background after a year or 2 unless you ask them!
I think most people truly believe the way they are doing it is the best way- but really, we are all qualified to work in a profession, so stop trying to say that one is better than the other- we all have our place no matter how we get there! We wouldn't be qualified or registered if we were unsafe to practice!