Possible student searching for midwives to share their experiences

Hi everyone! Hope this is the right spot to post...I am 5 months pregnant (and running around after a 16 month old - tee hee, is going to be a busy few years), inspired by my experiences in pregnancy and birth, to train in this area. Are there any experienced midwives out there (or do you know one?) who could spare some time on the phone to share their insights with me? Would especially love to know more about career pathways in the area, the crazy hours and work environments or stresses to think about. Would also love to hear about the good bits too! A dive into another degree is a bit frightening so would love some inside info, thanks everyone..

I'm a midwife. I can give you a call if you like or answers any questions you may have over Bellybelly. Tried to PM you but I think you may need X amount if posts prior to been able to receive personal messages.

Thanks Mildez! I am trying to get my PM working (still new to this) in the meantime... do you work in a hospital, or are you an independent midwife? Love to know about what different areas of mid you can work in, do they all involve birth suite or can you do mostly post or prenatal, or even take your midwifery training in a different direction to specialise in a specific area? What do you find the biggest challenge working as a midwife? What do you love? What type of people tend to be midwives, and are good at it? What are your work environments/ hours like (do family friendly day jobs exist in this field)??? What about the high stress/ emergency situations? Do you come across them much, and how do you deal with them? Too many questions...... I so appreciate any time you can spare :)

Hi Kipling,
Im a midwife. PM with any questions and Im more than happy to help :)
Oh and I LOVE my job :)

Hi Kipling

I am a student nurse/midwife (just a first year) so whilst I will not be the best person to answer most of your questions, I can help you with the uni application process. Is there anything in particular you would like to know?

PS I think you may get more answers here than in the pregnancy forum so I have merged your two threads together for you :)

Thanks so much for your responses!

Albi ---- I guess I would love to know things like .....what career pathways are there in mid: can you ever work chiefly in pre or postnatal, or does hospital/ birth centre work all involve birth suite and strange shifts? Could you specialise in a certain area of birth? what do you find the biggest challenges/ best things about working as a midwife? What type of people tend to be midwives, and are good at it?? What are the work environments/ shifts like in your workplace (do family friendly hours exist in this field?? this is one of my biggest concerns...) What about the high stress/ emergency situations -- do you get many of those, and how do you deal with them? Are you always run off your feet in hospitals, or does it depend on each individual workplace?

Too many questions! :) tee hee... I do not have enough posts up to PM but can get in touch via email or phone (10 mins tops!) if this is all too much to answer via Belly Belly. Let me know and I can get in touch via PM once my access is upped. Thanks so much for taking the time :)

Traveller ---- which uni are you at? Is it generally pretty hard to get in, and how do you manage the workload (especially the science component --- eek!)

I am at Deakin uni, on the double nursing/midwifery degree. As far as I am aware there is a lot of competition for spots, and the people I know who got in to the course as a mature student all had very strong applications with relevant work experience (paid or voluntary) and good STAT scores or recent study experience at university level (like Open University). The workload is fine so far, although I am a little stressed today as I have an exam tomorrow. In general though it is fine and although I have no science experience I have found the science subjects to be not too difficult.

Hi Kipling, well you certainly sound keen!

I trained as a Registered Nurse through Uni and worked as a nurse before deciding to undertake Midwifery. The only reason I became a nurse was to become a midwife however I strongly recommend getting your background in nursing first as there are so many basic (and complex) nursing skills you need to learn that will be needed in midwifery but not directly midwifery related. So I went back to Uni for a 2 year post graduate degree in Midwifery. It was part time study so I was able to work full-time as a nurse while undertaking study however it was a large load! Second year was 5 days a fortnight practical as a student midwife and then worked the rest as a nurse. To undertake the course you had to have a position through the hospital to be accepted. Luckily, because I already worked at a private hospital It wasnt too difficult to get a position but I know a lot of people who have been turned down who want to do the course.
So Ive been practicing as a midwife for 4 1/2 yrs. I work full-time at a private maternity hospital. I do not practice idependently as a midwife for a number of reason. In Tassie, there are only a few who do and who have been doing it for a looong time. Because of insurance costs, risks etc. its definatly an area I do not want to go into.
Regarding what areas you can work in. I think it would depend on the hospital. At the hospital I work at you are required to work in all areas as we are a relatively small maternity unit (aprrox 50-80 births a month) and you therefore you can work in a different area every shift. If you do have a 'favourite' area you can work at making that your area. I work mainly in birth suite as I enjoy it there where as many midwives find birth suite too stressful to work there too often. So the 4 areas we have are birth suite (we deliver from 32 weeks), postnatal ward, antenatal clinic (Know Your Midwife) and Special Care Nursery.
Because we are a private hospital, our clients go through private obstetritions throughout their pregnancy so we work very closely with the obstetritions which I think is fantastic! However the midwives do all the labour/birth care and all normal births. The obstetritions will only be called in to assist if we are concerned or a Forceps/Ventouse/LUSCS is required.
Shifts wise - It is shift work. So therefore a variety of Early's (645-1515), Lates (1415-2245) and Nights (2215-0715). We also do on-call and a lot of overtime because our work is so unpredictable. So therefore it is a lifestyle and a committment and although some places may negotiate a little on shift most will expect you to do what everyone else does.
Biggest challange - One is how much there is too it!! A lot of people think its just cuddling babies all day but so wrong! You have a lot of responsibility. You are the one making the decisions that can affect the outcome for mother and baby and that can be very stressful at times. Which is why I think its important to work with a really good team of fellow midwives who you know will be there by your side if you need them. It is also very emotionally draining which I dont think I really expected. It is the most important time in a couples life and you are sharing it with them so to an extent you go through that journey with them. They rely on you for everything, support, comfort, knowledge, guidance, friendship and I find that the most tiring thing.
Best things is probably same as above - I still think it is the most amazing thing bringing a baby into the world and I have never got tired of that. I think the day you stop thinking its the most amazing and special thing is the day you should stop being a midwife. Women and their partners know if you could really care if your there or not or if your just waiting for your shift to finish. However there are plenty of fantastic things, even just day to day things like teaching a first time dad how to do a nappy or how to do a first bath. These things make you smile and you get a lot of laughs in midwifery.
What type of people who are midwives - people with empathy and a real desire to help people and people who love babies :)
Yes there are emergency situations and tragedies. It is a stressful job and you need to be able to act with a level head to be a midwife. People who dont cope with the stress of emergencies dont usual last long :) The main thing is to keep all your skills, training etc up to date. I go to a lot of conferences, training sessions, courses, in my own time, to ensure I know what to do in these situations. I feel I have that responsibility to the women I care for.
If you are keen then best way is to find a maternity hospital you would like to work at, go up to them and ask their manager or educator to give you a tour and tell you about their ward. They will probably be able to tell you if they take students and also which university they recommend you do the course through.
Hope this helps :)
xo

Thanks for your post!! I'm just looking into midwifery study myself and your info was exactly the sort of insight I came to BB to look for lol :)

A belated thanks so much for your insightful responses, I am thinking now of aiming to eventually work with mums/ bubs in a different capacity, perhaps as a Maternal and Child health Nurse or as a Mothercraft Nurse (not sure what the new term is for these now..?) I am told you can study a postgrad Bachelor of Nursing (2 years) at Latrobe and have discovered you can then go straight into the Grad Dip in Midwifery at ACU (1 year), I might do it this way so I can have the Nursing behind me too.

Anyhow, thanks so much again !! The more I talk to different ppl in the field the better I feel about taking the plunge in the right direction... I have to admit the emergencies do scare me but I am so drawn to helping mums through this amazing time :)