http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/ en Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:33:24 GMT vBulletin 180 http://www.studentmidwife.net/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/ http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/jemisonluck/2618-i-have-enrolled-with-dlc.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:56:57 GMT Hi Everyone, Well I thought I better start one of these now that I am definately putting plans into place for becoming a midwife. A bit of... Hi Everyone,

Well I thought I better start one of these now that I am definately putting plans into place for becoming a midwife.

A bit of background: I am 23 years old, engaged and almost 35 weeks pregnant with my first baby, a little girl. She is due in April and I am planning a lovely homebirth.

My pregnancy has been the main participating factor that has made me truly want to go for this. In 2006-2007 I completed the first year of a nursing diphe. However, I dropped out as it just wasnt for me. I just didnt feel like I could give the type of care I wanted to give. At the end of that year, I had a maternity placement which consisted of 1 week blocks in 3 areas; community, labour ward and antenatal ward. I absolutely loved it and I really felt like this was somewhere I could really make a difference. My time spent with the midwives didnt feel like 'work' & I couldnt believe there was a job like it and you could actually get paid for it.

So fast forward a few years, I have decided to take the step and apply for April 2011/Sept 2011 entry. I have a number of things lined up to get me in the best possible position for entry as I know how competitive midwifery is.

First things first, I enrolled on my distance learning access course YAY! I am so looking forward to starting and really hoping I can get finished by mid November as my official start date is not untill the 29th March and then I just have to fit my work experience in around it and look after my newborn. :phew:I am going to be a busy mummy!

Its Friday today and I had a big nesting craze earlier on and bleached the whole kitchen, and then the bathroom and now I have a sore back. Baby has been fidgeting all day, which is reasurring as I cant stand it when she has her quiet days as I start worrying then. I have spent the evening relaxing and eating lots of unhealthy food and watching programmes online.:tt2: I watched the Business of Being Born earlier, a very very interesting documentary!

Thats all for now, as I have a track record for being a babbler. I think I may raid the fridge for that last piece of chocolate fudge cake.

JemisonLuck

x


]]> JemisonLuck http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/jemisonluck/2618-i-have-enrolled-with-dlc.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/bobble/2616-helluva-week.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:28:02 GMT Trying to prepare for interview at Worcester next week, not succeeding very well and have had to put my Gran-i-l in hospital for respite for my... Trying to prepare for interview at Worcester next week, not succeeding very well and have had to put my Gran-i-l in hospital for respite for my m-i-l....Things just getting emotional as she is slowly slipping away from us and I feel the world's worst cow cos all I can think of is trying to find time to study for my access course.

AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - feeling a bit better now that is off my chest :( ]]> Bobble http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/bobble/2616-helluva-week.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/nimrod7878/2615-thankyou.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:18:25 GMT hi thanks for your advice really helped i will have a look at both options and let you no the outcome :clap: hi thanks for your advice really helped i will have a look at both options and let you no the outcome :clap: ]]> nimrod7878 http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/nimrod7878/2615-thankyou.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/autumnmaple/2614-one-year-with-smnet-today.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:58:08 GMT Well, it has now been a year today since I first chanced upon SMNET! And what a year it has been! :yes: I thought I would commemorate this with my... Well, it has now been a year today since I first chanced upon SMNET! And what a year it has been! :yes: I thought I would commemorate this with my first ever blog!
This time last year, after applying to the five universities closest to me I was in the throws of interviews and the dreaded wait... I didn't do an access course, so didn't have any friends or anyone that I knew doing midwifery. Back then I had no idea just how competitive it was to secure one of those prized places, and so was in incredibly lucky when I was offered interviews at all five universities. While preparing for these I was doing lots of internet searches and it was then that I chanced upon SMNET! Bamm... my world changed!
I googled something like midwifery interviews and SMNET came up top. I had a little browse and I found an interview testimonial for one of the universities I had an interview at. I couldn't believe it. It was amazing, the description in retrospect was spot on - right down to the room! I felt like I had come home! There were people here who understood what I was going through and had actually been to the universities I had applied to!!
I was hooked. I kept coming back and soon the names which at first were just names, became my friends. I went through the turbulent excitement of offers being handed out - on those days the threads grew so quickly it was hard to keep up. There were tears, condolences and laughter and congratulations. I was offered an unconditional place at my first choice! :clap:
Because of personal reasons I decided to defer. That has meant that since last May (when I finally accepted on UCAS - that was a scary moment) I have been able to take a back seat in the application process. I have spent the year helping some of you with your personal statements and then watching as the next lot of interview invitations came and now the interviews and the WAITING! I know it so well!
I am now waiting myself... to start training as a midwife in September! I am so excited.
I want to thank SMNET for helping me get to where I am - I couldn't have done it without your help and friendship THANK YOU :blush:
AM xxx ]]> AutumnMaple http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/autumnmaple/2614-one-year-with-smnet-today.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/lovelyxx/2613-hi-guys.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:34:57 GMT any one could kindly explain whats the quality assurance? xx thanks any one could kindly explain whats the quality assurance? xx thanks ]]> Lovelyxx http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/lovelyxx/2613-hi-guys.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/nimrod7878/2612-grades-were-not-good.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:43:27 GMT hi im new to this i found this sight well finding info out about midwifery. I am 31 my kids r all at school now i have been intrested in it for a... hi im new to this i found this sight well finding info out about midwifery. I am 31 my kids r all at school now i have been intrested in it for a while. I left school at 17 my grades were not that good any help on the grades i need to progress. :yes: ]]> nimrod7878 http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/nimrod7878/2612-grades-were-not-good.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/lillypod/2610-uws-reserved-list.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:33:37 GMT Hey guys! I got on 2 the reserved list for UWS! Does anyone know how many get on the list?? Anyone heard from Caley?? xx Hey guys!

I got on 2 the reserved list for UWS! Does anyone know how many get on the list?? Anyone heard from Caley??

xx ]]> Lillypod http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/lillypod/2610-uws-reserved-list.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/felicity/2609-emotional-rollercoaster-what-a-week.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:22:43 GMT Ok... It's time to stop wasting time on youtube and FB and actually get down to some portfolio work! First, I'm just going to update my blog!

I'm on my community placement now and it's been so varied that I've loads to write up. BIGGEST NEWS: I delivered my first baby!! Was very exciting but my stomach was also doing flippy-flops the whole time. :o15: The couple were lovely and very patient with me. Afterwards the woman asked me if that was my first delivery and then, bless her, said how pleased she was that she had been my first! Both her and her partner kept congratulating me and I was like 'No, congratulations to YOU!' :laughing1:It was a simple, straightforward SVD, placenta followed no problem with active management and mum and baby were discharged the following day. I visited them in their home a day later and, again, the mother was saying how well I'd done and thanking me. She was so lovely - I couldn't have asked for a better first delivery. :yes: Yesterday, her community midwife said she'd been talking to her about it and had said again how impressed she'd been. Things like that make you realise what an important role a midwife plays in a woman's birth experience. These women remember who was there and who said what and what happened long after we've forgotten the details.

I had another really interesting day where I assisted with a parentcraft session and then took the parents on a tour of the unit. I really enjoyed that as I love teaching and calming parents-to-be's fears!! I already have a few useful stories I can share with them, so that was fun. Then, in the afternoon, I joined a midwife in caring for a couple who were expecting their first baby. They arrived on the unit around 3pm and as she was well into established labour we thought it wouldn't be long until she delivered. Hours passed and a new shift started and at 8pm we had to take her to have a ventouse delivery. I'd never seen a ventouse up close before so I was very interested but felt so sorry for this poor woman. She was understandably distressed and her partner was amazing in supporting her but must have felt the strain too. The baby came out floppy so I saw my first resus as well. LUCKILY, mum and baby were both fine by the time I left them at 10pm. It was a long and exhausting shift but I was glad I'd stayed with them. It's one of the perks of being a student - I can follow one woman's care throughout a shift as I don't have any competing demands. It was scary though when the midwife and the doctor asked me all these questions about the woman's condition prior to transfer and all about timings and things, as it made me feel very responsible. I was really treated like one of the team, which was lovely, and I tried to use my initiative and just get on with what I could do whilst staying out of the way! I was so relieved when the baby was deemed a 10 at 10 minutes by the paeds doctor. She was a really cute baby. I got to weigh her as well, which, for some reason, I took a lot of pride in. I don't know why... The couple thanked me again and again for staying with them throughout and when I said 'my pleasure' I really meant it. I'd learnt a lot and was just so glad, after all the drama, that they had the little girl they had dreamed of. :D

I spent a day in the antenatal clinic working with the midwives who undertook the dating scans and assessing a woman's risk category. That was interesting and useful as I've been doing bookings with women and telling them about the blood tests and scans that are carried out without really knowing what goes on at that appointment. Now I feel more informed. I did have a bit of a down moment though when I was in with one couple during their scan. I was stood next to the midwife so I could see the screen before she broke the news that they had lost their baby. I was trying to keep it together until they were told and had left the room as this wasn't about me, it was about them. Knowing some of their history with past pregnancies made it even sadder. I had a little cry and then got back to the job in hand and saw the scan of a healthy, 32-week baby with reduced AFI. It's amazing what the scans can show! At first it looks like lots of black and grey blobs but as your eyes adjust it becomes easier. And the heartbeat is so amazing - you can even see the four-chamber view on some of them. :eek:

Visiting people in the community can be quite draining. You see the hardships some people have to deal with that you wouldn't know about if you only ever saw them in the GP's or hospital. This is why I think home bookings are so important and need to be protected. I've heard some shocking stories over the last couple of weeks and it makes you realise how good you've got it - I've a supportive family, enough money to eat healthily and a good education. I have the opportunity to make a career and a life for myself and, although my self-confidence falters at times, I have the self-belief that many of the women I meet don't have. It's so sad to meet people who think they aren't worth anything and that nobody will want them so they'll stay with their violent partner and listen every time someone tells them they're no good.


I spent the morning in an anti-D clinic which I enjoyed. I did my research the night before so that I wouldn't be completely clueless (!) and then got to build on this knowledge with the information the midwife could offer me. I got to give lots more injections too which, for some reason, I really enjoy! :?: I felt I had a good knowledge of it by the time I left and am going to further build on that now. What I also learnt was how to pass on that knowledge to women in a clear manner and in a way that everyone can understand. I often struggle with this as my bookings show, when I try to explain sickle cell and thalassaemia. I always worry that I sound condescending but then I realise that what is easy for me to understand might not be for people who have little interest in biology, immunology, pathology and/or midwifery. Some people's grasp of biology is so basic (or even virtually non-existent) that saying 'haemoglobin' means nothing to them. You have a gauge someone's level of understanding so quickly in order to pitch it all at the right level.

So, I think it is fair to say I have learnt a lot over the past week. I may not have gotten that 2nd delivery I thought I would but, like I said, I was just so happy that the baby was born and is now healthy and that I was able to stay with the couple throughout and offer some support through continuity of care. Although the miscarriage was a terribly sad event, I knew that one day I would witness that and next time I'll be better prepared. It will always be emotional, I've no doubt, but I hope that I can get a hold on the tears and offer comfort instead.

I've had such a tiring week that, after all that, it'd be lovely to have a day of shopping, drinking hot chocolate at a little street cafe, taking a walk around the lake... But no. The life of a midwifery student is work and then study in any hours left over! So on to the dreaded portfolio....!!

Take care one and all. xxx ]]> Felicity http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/felicity/2609-emotional-rollercoaster-what-a-week.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/babylee/2608-no-im-really-doubting-myself.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:24:33 GMT have interview for cardiff next week and wanted to practice writing the essay. problem is is that we dont have the title till the day. so anyway i... have interview for cardiff next week and wanted to practice writing the essay. problem is is that we dont have the title till the day. so anyway i made one up just to see how much i could write! it doesnt read well and thats just not good :no: ]]> babylee http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/babylee/2608-no-im-really-doubting-myself.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/jolene79/2607-help-needed-my-english-assessment.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:56:23 GMT Hi All, I have recently completed my English and Maths access course assessments however, I have received some feedback from my tutor and am... Hi All,

I have recently completed my English and Maths access course assessments however, I have received some feedback from my tutor and am having troubles with my sentence structure. Would any one be willing to read my essay for me before I send it back again?? xx ]]> jolene79 http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/jolene79/2607-help-needed-my-english-assessment.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/spaceranger/2606-3-to-go.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:15:39 GMT have just realised i only have three more sets of obs for the molar to do (providing they r all normal) and then its self care yaaaaay! soooo 25th... have just realised i only have three more sets of obs for the molar to do (providing they r all normal) and then its self care yaaaaay! soooo 25th june n this will be ovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeerrr and i will have past my edd so can start really moving on (I HOPE) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:punk: ]]> spaceranger http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/spaceranger/2606-3-to-go.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/raisin/2605-ljmu-reserves.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:00:13 GMT Hi, Ive recently been told that i am on the reserve list for LJMU- as is every other apllicant who has had an interview and not been offered a place... Hi, Ive recently been told that i am on the reserve list for LJMU- as is every other apllicant who has had an interview and not been offered a place yet- does any1 know what is goin on?? ]]> Raisin http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/raisin/2605-ljmu-reserves.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/cowgirl/2603-the-current-status-your-application.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:48:47 GMT "Your application has been sent for consideration".

Can't believe they haven't put me outta my misery yet!! I've been checking track constantly since my interview in mid Feb. Yeah I know they said we'd find out in April, but I wanna know NOW. Mainly because my bf said if I don't get in this year we should get some more first hand experience by having 1 of our own!!!!!! So, whatever the outcome I have something to look forward to :w00t: ]]> cowgirl http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/cowgirl/2603-the-current-status-your-application.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/orkney08/2602-start-of-a-long-journey.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:42:05 GMT Hi everyone thought i'd post a blog and let everyone know what my plan of action is!
I am 24 and have 2 beautiful children, my daughter is 4 in May and my son is 2 at the end of this month. They are full of mischief and an absolute joy!
I have wanted to be a midwife for a long time now and i feel finally the time is right as before i hadn't really had the chance (with pregnancies and employment!) I now feel that this is the perfect time to start on the long winding road to my ambition:)
I have applied for an Access to Nursing course at my local college which starts at the end of August. I've had my acknowledgement letter, just waiting on an interview-fingers crossed! So i will be applying this September for Uni (1st choice UWS Hamilton) Anyone else applying for 2011 at Hamilton give me a shout and we can have a wee chat about applying etc. Its all so exciting and a bit daunting:sweatdrop:
Cant wait to start the ball rolling this is my life long dream and i believe it's my calling in life:D Cant imagine doing anything else:no:
Any student or potential student who fancies giving me any advice then feel free its much appreciated.
Woohoo small steps big results:D xxxx ]]> orkney08 http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/orkney08/2602-start-of-a-long-journey.html http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/boo2006/2601-interview-today-argh.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:05:19 GMT Hi, I have my interview today for a Maternity Care Assistant job.. I am so nervous! If anyone has any tips of what to say and what not to say then i... Hi,
I have my interview today for a Maternity Care Assistant job.. I am so nervous! If anyone has any tips of what to say and what not to say then i would be grateful!
Thanks Love Boo xx ]]> Boo2006 http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/boo2006/2601-interview-today-argh.html