This is a guest blog by current BSc (Hons) Midwifery student Lise Heritier. Lise shares her experiences of what it’s like to be a student midwife. 

Either on placement or at uni, my day would always start the same way: with a coffee!

If I was at uni, I would walk to the brand new Bournemouth Gateway Building (BGB), swipe my student card, and go straight to my lectures. As student midwives, we have both teaching days and skills days. For our skills days, we are wearing our uniforms and using the simulation rooms (birthing rooms, hospital rooms, etc). We could either be learning new skills or practice scenarios, for example, obstetric emergencies, breastfeeding, drug preparations and so much more.

Our days are always organised the same way, we have three lectures a day with one coffee break and a lunch break in-between. For these lecturers, we would all go to the cafeteria on the ground floor of BGB. We would all sit together and talk about everything and nothing, catching up with each other. After the last lecture, we would all go home or I would stay at the library if we have any upcoming assignments or if I needed to revise. At BGB, the library is open 24/7 which is a considerable advantage if I wanted to stay and revise in a calm environment for longer.

If I was going to placement, my day would start as early as 5am. I would then make my way to the maternity unit I am working in, change myself into my uniform and go to the ward I have been allocated for my rotation. As students, we have to experience every specific aspect of maternity care to build on our knowledge. This is why we rotate between all the different wards during our training. As student midwives, we always work alongside a mentor, also called a practice supervisor. At the start of every shift, we would have a short handover, which is when another midwife is telling us the woman’s history and her progress, then we go and see the woman and her partner(s) and start their plan of care. Whether they’re having a baby, had a baby, or are still pregnant, we would care for them. When working as a midwife, you never know what your day will entail. Every single woman is different and brings their ideas about pregnancy and childbirth, making every day different and interesting.

When I started my midwifery journey, I was not expecting to like every single thing I thought I’d dislike. I thought I would love the postnatal period, but I found myself loving the antenatal period and cesarean sections. What a surprise! Midwifery is such a unique job and it’s a privilege to be able to care for so many women and help them during their journey to become a mother. Midwifery is not only caring for women, it is also being empowered by your colleagues and friends every day, it is also an ongoing development of yourself and a constant learning curve.