I agree. I had a weekend on delivery when nothing happened, literally nothing, so after alot of restocking, cleaning and damp dusting (you so know it lol) I did exactly that and it really helped me. The green thingy situation was year 1 and my mentor was writing in the notes (back to me and other side of room) while I was with the woman, hence I was completley lost as to what the green wotsit was.... turns out it was a drug chart...

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StudentMidwife.NET Founder

"You're braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem. And smarter than you think."
Christopher Robin in Pooh's Grand Adventure

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Id also add that I have found the MCAs invaluable, they know where everything is where to get something youve run out of in a flash and taught me how to make a bed properly

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StudentMidwife.NET Founder

"You're braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem. And smarter than you think."
Christopher Robin in Pooh's Grand Adventure

Fancy yourself as a bit of a writer? Want to contribute midwifery or SM2B articles to SMNET? If so, PM me with your thoughts/articles

A first shift on a delivery unit when it is absolutely manic also helps you find...and remember where stuff is kept too. You have no one else to ask or rely on to show you where it is kept, only yourself, makes you learn very quickly.

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Midwifemissy x

Student Midwife 2007
Student uni rep
Educational Resources Manager

PAB Support Worker

lol MM that been you then this week?

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StudentMidwife.NET Founder

"You're braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem. And smarter than you think."
Christopher Robin in Pooh's Grand Adventure

Fancy yourself as a bit of a writer? Want to contribute midwifery or SM2B articles to SMNET? If so, PM me with your thoughts/articles

Yep, it was definately on Monday, my mentor said it had been a 'baptism of fire' onto the unit lol.

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Midwifemissy x

Student Midwife 2007
Student uni rep
Educational Resources Manager

PAB Support Worker

Firstly, I work in an obstetric unit, our women are a mixture of low risk and high risk women, and for low risk women I am more than happy to write 'in labour' on the board without doing a VE. For high risk women, it depends on the situation and the risk factors involved.

With regard to students practising in ways that do not sit comfortably wth their own philosophy - I think that good and consistent mentorship is vital in this respect. It is something which, going on the experiences of my cohort and student midwives at the unit I work at, and in online st m/w communitites, seems to be an ongoing problem. I was lucky to have good continuity of mentorship with a mentor who got to know my abilities and shortcomings and was willing to listen to what I had to say. We did not always agree on things, but we respected each others opinions and felt comfortable enought with each other to be able to discuss them. Mentorship is all too often a case of 'finding someone to work with for today', so the student is bounced from one person to the next, with no continuity in terms of the experience gained, or in terms of the mentor developing a knowledge into stengths, weaknesses, needs and views of the student. Students tend to become quite 'task orientated' in this situation, focussing on what is the right and wrong way of doing specific tasks (when the reality is that there is often no absolute), along with the stress and grind of getting paperwork completed and things signed off. What is lost in the noise is reflecting on experiences, looking at why things happened in the way that they did, what could have been different, how this fits with the philosophy of the student, and how the experiences are affecting the student as he/she evolves into a midwife. Students don't have the 'safe zone' to develop their own style and philosophy within the reailities of clinical practice but under the guidance of a mentor, so become anxious, stressed, and not really understanding where they are at and what they are tryng to achieve. So practice becomes regimented and defensive, and the individualilty of birthing women in easily lost.

Sorry to ramble and to go off topic....

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Love Dory xxx
Just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin'....

Have you just been offered a place? If so and you want a mentor please post in post this forum (also post here if you would like a mentee)

Dory,

You have summed up my last placment perfectly, that is exactly how I felt throught the whole four weeks, I felt I didn't have the opportunity to learn the things I wanted to or needed to learn, and felt completely 'out on a limb' I hated the whole placement, so much so that I never want to go back, but sadly i know I will have to in my second year. It wasn't on delivery suite I know, but it did affect the way I felt about starting my current placement, I was even more anxious and nervous than I would have been without that experience.

I now have a wonderful mentor, and we have the kind of relationship you describe, and I feel comfortable enough with her to be able to ask any questions, no matter how silly they feel to me, and I know she will answer them without judging me. This makes all the difference to me, I am fully aware of my limitations, but I know that if she asked me to do something that didn't fall into my 'comfort zone' I could trust her to guide me through it., and feel confident enough to do it.

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Midwifemissy x

Student Midwife 2007
Student uni rep
Educational Resources Manager

PAB Support Worker

I agree 'finding someone to work with for today' is exactly how it can feel on a labour shift. I once did 3, 12 hour shifts in a row and worked with 5 mentors. It just does not help student build on confidence. (what little we have).

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Have you just been offered a place? If so and you want a mentor please post in post this forum (also post here if you would like a mentee)

Anyone else have a view?

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StudentMidwife.NET Founder

"You're braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem. And smarter than you think."
Christopher Robin in Pooh's Grand Adventure

Fancy yourself as a bit of a writer? Want to contribute midwifery or SM2B articles to SMNET? If so, PM me with your thoughts/articles

My ve's were so painful when i had my daughter i came off the bed with one of them and demanded gas and air with the second, which didn't help. (don't remember the rest!lol!) Why do your own? You don't know what your looking for and what's a midwife for??????