hello all i now have to look at the barriers that can come in between becoming a midwife like long working hours working with small children at home and being a student and the money side of it (not having enough income) i need to know how you could over come these barriers if any 1 understands whet i am trying to say thanx

[ollybolly]

am a bit confused
is this for an essay or personal statement or your own personal research so you can decide whether you want to apply or not?

just helps us to tailor answers and clarify them a bit!
x

[misscurious]

As olly says if you could provide us with a bit more info, then maybe we could advise and help you xx

[smwife]

Originally Posted by KathrynSM2B hello all i now have to look at the barriers that can come in between becoming a midwife like long working hours working with small children at home and being a student and the money side of it (not having enough income) i need to know how you could over come these barriers if any 1 understands whet i am trying to say thanx

I'll have a go, but as Ols says I amy not get the answer right as dunno what you're after exactly! Sorry love

So here goes, if it's wrong, let me know...

There are a few, brace yourself!

• Money, or lack of it. The bursary is small, and not everyone is eligible for further help and student loans etc. You have living costs and also the expense such as books, paper, ink PC etc...
• Childcare. Extremely expensive, bursary provides 85% of costs though.
• Long and unsocial hours, nights, weekends early starts and late finishes
• Transport, not essential to be a car driver, but times when it would be preferred. Both running a car and using public transport have their drawbacks
• Time, the course takes up alot of time and impacts on family life, time with friends and gettting things done at home and with life outside of the course. This oftne creates problmes particularly in relationships.
• Practical skills attainment. A vital element of the course and not always easy to achieve, some people take to it better than others
• Academia, essays to do, often together and several. Again not always easy to fit in and academia is not so easy for some as it is for others, as putting down into academic style is not always easy to do.
• Health, being healthy is difficult, tiredness, poor diet and lack of time to exercise. Predisposing health conditions may also suffer
• Mentorship. Not always a positive experience, many mentors do not choose to be one, they may not always have your best interests at heart, for whatever reason.
• The clinical environment, it is not always a very welcoming place. However extrovert you are you have to fit in with a completely new bunch of people and a new environment. It takes time for people to get to know you and you them. Also morale is low and staff are busy, this affects your training
• Returning to education, despite doing an access course uni life is very different, the competitiveness experienced by many applicants to midwifery often continues during the course.
• Children. Those with younger children have problems with not being able to do and go to thnigs connected with them, such as plays, nursery events, seeing their milestones, quality time etc. Those with older ones find it difficult at times to support them through problems, sorting out the many social and sporting activities that they have. Another reason why relationships are strained maybe as you need to rely on your partner/boyfriend/husband to help out more instead of being able to manage it all as a SAHM.
• Edited to add. Younger students without children don't have it easy, or older with grown up children both of these groups recieve less money, the former due to bursary award being based on their parent 's income, the latter as they have no dependants. There are thus financial problems here too
• You may not get the placment area you wish, this may impact on some of the above, time childcare and money. You may be able to change, but not always, unless someone leaves
• Illness, or personal problems. Life can impact on the course too, if bad things happen or you get ill on the course, you cannot take much time off, time in placement must be made up, and some uni's require this for uni time too (we are allowed 15 days off of uni time, for good reason over the entire three years, clinical placment time must be made up each year)
• Support, very necessary from partner, friends, fellow cohortees and family too. If you don't have this it is very difficult

How's that?

Blimey, why am I doing this course again?

All of those things are workable really, and it is worth it, not always , but most of the time!

HTH?

[Daphne]

Wow SMWife, that's a great list and really puts it all into perspective.

Originally Posted by smwife Blimey, why am I doing this course again?

LOL good question. But there's just no other way to go.

[KathrynSM2B]

thanx smwife that was exactly what i was looking for and youve described everything i need sorry it was a bit confusing its all about a class discussion where we have to identify all the problems that could stop people becoming midwives such as not enough help with childcare money not enough etc so thank you all hope this helps

[fairydustsharon]

That's a fab list - thanks smwife

Sharon x

[KarrierBag]

Hmm, smwife - that's some list! Helps to see it all in black and white though as I've been a bit wobbly about it all lately! TY!!

xx