The reality of being a midwife in the NHS

I know what you're saying, i really do, even though i'm not a student. I know from the receiving end about substandard care. I remember thinking how rubbish the nhs is when i was in college but one evening we were shown a documentary before the NHS was started up. Lots of us then realised actually, the people who receive care from the NHS are actually really fortunate when compared to before the NHS was here and in comparrison to some other countries.
I do agree with what you're saying, it does need to be a lot better but we and the public are actually fortunate to have what we have. I'm not sure if you've read butterfly's blog on here posted a little over a year ago (i think it was) but she went to Tanzania in Africa and the experiences she has written about just show how lucky we are to have what we have. I'm not sure if the documentary worst place to be a midwife is still on bbc iplayer but that was really good to watch as well.
I'm not saying the nhs is acceptable the way it is, just reading about other countries and watching those documentaries made me realise it could be a lot worse.

Massive hugs to you hun!

As a working MW I do get where you're coming from- this past year has been a massive learning curve for me, even more-so than my student-hood was in terms of understanding what it really means to be a modern Midwife.

Sometimes I tremble in fear as I realise I haven't really been able to provide safe care, let alone acceptable care.

The important thing to remember is that your experience is what you make it. If you look for the negative that's all you will find. Yes the service isn't perfect- but it's our job to keep fighting to make it better. All we can do is our best, and the sad fact is that sometimes it isn't enough. At times like that it is ok to have a bit of a cry and feel sorry for yourself and wonder if this is really what you want to be doing, but then you have to pick yourself up and carry on- because women will always need Midwives and that's why we're here.

As a student there's a certain amount of 'de-rose-tinted-specticaling' that goes on, particularly in your first year. Part of evolving and growing as a practitioner is matching up what you're taught in uni (the ideal) and what you experience in practice (the reality).

The difference can be hugely disorientating and disappointing in the beginning- but I promise it gets better. You learn that, actually, sometimes you cannot always make a massive difference to a woman's experience, but sometimes it is the small differences that really count, and eventually they do add up to something big.

Keep your chin up- you're not alone in this depressing realisation, but we all live in hope that, some day, things will get better.

P.s had a little giggle at your username and avatar. I her!

x

That's awful butterfly that sometimes you feel that you can't provide 'safe' care and that you feel fearful of it.

Hi there,

I'm going to reiterate what Butterfly has said really...

Being a student midwife really opens your eyes to the state the service is really in, and being qualified does that even more so.
I too, have gone home from a 12 hour shift, having spent most of it apologising for delayed inductions etc - the thing to remember there is that you're delaying their intervention for safety reasons, not to be awkward. If you go ahead and ARM, knowing that there is no room/midwife/both to safely and appropriately augment, you risk putting woman, baby, yourself, your team and the unit at risk. Sometimes as a newbie you feel like it's your fault, but it's not. Delays in IOL are sometimes necessary to ensure safe care for all within that unit. Midwifery is unpredictable - no one can predict who will arrive in labour and when, nor how that labour will progress and this is something that we have to gently explain to women awaiting induction. It's hard, but that's reality at times.

As for you not feeling that you're making a difference, like Butterfly said, it's the small things that add up to a big difference, and if every midwife in the NHS were complacent and thought "this is what it is, we'll live with it..." the system will never change.
We need people like you who are aware that the system stinks, and have the passion and drive to push through that and make midwifery better!

It's difficult, because we all want to be giving good, one to one care, but at times we can't and this is disappointing. It's a sign that you care deeply that you're worried about this - a sign of a good midwife IMO. Sometimes your very best is all you can do (unless you were born with an S on your chest and wear your red lycra pants over your leggings), but you can do your very best to make a difference, even in a small way.

Don't forget, we're the future of midwifery - if we can't make things better, who will???