You lot are making me sad
i for one adore working with students - if you challenge my practice i grow and i try not to take it as a criticism.
To all those prospective m/ws please dont let reports of some bad experiences put you off - some of us old biddies welcome students and even like to have a good old debate with them!!
If you feel devalued or belittled by your mentor this is wrong - talk to your student placement midwife to discuss ways to improve the situation, to feedback to the mentor concerned in a constructive way or, if all else fails move to another mentor. It is part of the midwives' role to mentor students.
One of the nicest things i heard recently was a newly qualified midwife talking to another and she said; "nappysack taught me to think for myself and not to be a doctor's handmaiden" - being a mentor is the part of my role i enjoy the most.
