General placements

I have 2 weeks general in a weeks time and i'm not looking forward to my gynae placement but am looking forward to OPD as they have told me they will get me into clinics that are profession specific so i will see things that will hopefully help me in the future.

I guess for some kind of nursing experience it would be a plus... However as midwives we're not nurses... I don't know... I know a lot of our "general" placements will by more gyn, well woman clinics... very woman orientated., So I'm not really dreading doing them. I also dont think each one lasts longer than a coupla weeks.

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yeah, I do think it is good we do it not just form a midwives learning about other aspects, but also from an interprofessional view too

That said I will do my hardest and get stuck in, but am still dreading it, it's another step right out of my comfort zone....

Ahhh well

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No we are not nurses, but I believe we still need some caring/nursing experience, as even as midwives we will need to dress wounds, learn aseptic techniques, catheter care, etc also we look after women pre op and post op when we are the ones on shift on delivery and the theatre staff aren't. I just think that a gynae placement is the ideal place to be able to get those skills, and again I think gynae is relevent to midwifery from from a health promotion point of view.
Our general experience is gynae and gynae theatres, I don't know the point of an actual general mixed ward if thats what some students general placements are.

cant really say much

i do 2 weeks on gynae in the 2nd year

very interesting to see how the unis differ though

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Student Midwife jan 08



forum buddy!!!


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)

We do 5 wks in gynae in our second year and have just started a module to prepare us for this. I personally am enjoying it so far, it has kinda made me look at pregnancy beyond the period we see women if that makes any sense and tbh I am shocked at how bad it is for some women.

Hope this makes sense, I'm really tired!

See, places like gyb/obs/well woman clinics I see as WHOLLY relevant... Its places that send people on general mixed sex wards that get me... I mean... How relevant is say... a man in with a prostate condition?

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I agree that you shouldn't need to learn about caring for men with specific "male problems", when training to be a midwife.

But, I would argue that caring for a patient (male or female) with say a cardiac condition, or chronic asthma or post surgery is very relevant.

Just recently I cared for a woman over 2 shifts who had medical complications following a c.section. She was only 24 but was a heavy smoker. First day post op recovery was fine. But on day 2 she started to feel unwell and was short of breath. Her oxygen saturation was down to mid 80%. Her condition worsened and I ended up caring for her on delivery suite 1:1. A CT scan showed that she had a collapsed lung. So, whilst she was a postnatal patient, I was actually giving her quite intense nursing care. At one point the drs were considering transfering her to ITU for some help with ventilation. She had various monitors, drips, a humidified oxygen unit, nebulisers etc. all of which I had to be competent at using and maintaining.

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Well I did 3 weeks on the orthapaedic ward in my first year, I HATED IT, the only reason why was the staff the ward was notorious for not being able to keep staff and it had issues, I latched myself onto a newly qualified and a senior nursing student who were fab, taught me how to take drains out, do dressings aseptic technique etc.. In the 3rd year I did 3 weeks on a respiratory ward, yes I was used as a HCA but I latched my self onto the nurses when doing the medi rounds and pinched loads of leaflets out of the drug bozes for my portfolio I learnt alot from simply talking to the patients on there, it was mixed but the ages were mixed to so I got a really good grounding, yes I had issues with the staff but thats because some nurses see midwives as a threatening figure, its bizarre really the things some nurses and other medical staff say about mw's who knows why???
I also did 6 weeks on gynae ward, and the same on NICU, gynae was the same I again struggled with a lot of the staff but so did alot of the other nurses on there, so it wasn't just me it was the fuddy duddies on there. Gynae was a great experience, seeing women with prolapses, and having historectomys, TOP's breast cancer patients, it really brings things home to you to be mindful of your practice for the longevity of womens health.
I think they are essential placements, that said I do believe the mindset of some of the staff on these placements needs changing. They can make life extremely difficult at times (or try to!, one nurse "offered me outside" and one clicked her fingers at me-how rude). Its a power trip, but once you have that amusing thought in your head that they are often quite threatened by the wage difference (thats all it seems to be, so I'm told) then you'll be fine, just let it all wash over you and get out of the placement as much as you can xx

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Forum Buddy


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)

I think some general placements could be relevant as not all women midwives come across are going to be well, yes they are having a baby but some of them will have medical conditions that will/may need to be taken into consideration.

The ward i am on at present makes me mad cos of this, the doctors just see the surgery side of the patient and not any medical conditions that could be going on.

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misscurious x
JLS to win x