Ok so a bit more about being a student midwife.

Maybe a day on delivery suit. an average day.

During the three year programme 40 personal deliveries must be obtained, as well as a load of other competencies such as care postnatally and antenatally, high and low risk etc. I have around 25 deliveries now. Mostly from within a main unit, a few birth unit, one home birth and of course catching my own last daughter at home in our bedroom in a pool on a sunny morning.

Her birth was just magical, and so worth taking a year out of my study for as I learned so much about choices and had the support of great midwives myself.

On delivery suit it is different. For the majority of out lessons focus on low risk, holistic and hands off midwifery. This is not usually the practice in hospitals. So the gap between theory and practice can be large, and it's easy to get scared and Forget midwifery is a skill and just become a doctors assistant.

The training is comprehensive though, and I am mostly enjoying it. I wish we could have more inspirational speakers at uni though, women who advocate home birth and spiritual midwifery.

I want to be a crunchy lentil eating sort of midwife, but that is a while off and for now it's obstetrics I have to understand.

We work with designated mentors for each placement of around 3 months. Sometimes there are study days in-between hospital shifts, other times it's blocks of study. But most midwives now do 12 hour days, which is hard with a baby who loves boob and cuddles and being carried about on your back all day! But we manage. Kal needs a manory gland!

We have handover and take over the care of a woman. Usually only one. As I have got more experienced I am able to work independently some of the time, taking obs, monitoring fettle
heart etc, which is nice. I get to talk to the women lots, they seem to really open up to students and I notice much more chatter when the midwife is not present.

I can now attempt to interpret vaginal dilatation and assess position of the baby. This took some learning! Note taking is a vital skill that I hope to develop further this year.

Gosh, it's bedtime here and nobodies ready, big girl is clanging on the piano, the boy is chasing the baby with a Lego boat and as usual she wants boob! Will add to this later maybe.
The tumble dryer is beeping, and I have a new issue of Juno to read too. And a long day shift tomorrow.

Just remembered I got a parking ticket today to, bloody £30! could do without that.