Becoming a Midwife: A Student Guide

217 Pages·2023·37.194 MB·English

by  Ellie Durant

Becoming a Midwife
A Student Guide
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Becoming a Midwife
A Student Guide
Ellie Durant
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BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK
1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA
29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland
BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo
are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain 2023
Copyright © Ellie Durant 2023
The author has asserted their right to be identified as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior
permission in writing from the publishers.
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for,
any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given
in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher
regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have
ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Durant, Ellie, author.
Title: Becoming a midwife : a student guide / Ellie Durant.
Description: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2023. |
Series: Bloomsbury study skills | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Summary: “Written in a friendly, uplifting tone, Becoming a Midwife : A Student Guide provides
students and newly-qualified midwives with the tools and support they need to thrive on their
course, on placement and in the early stages of their careers.
Chapters are enriched with insights from students and practising midwives,
practical tips, worksheets to promote reflective practice and suggestions for further reading.
Covering core academic skills, the fundamentals of clinical practice, self-care and the transition
to newly-qualified midwife, this is the go-to guide to help student midwifes not only
survive but thrive on their course” – Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022032119 (print) | LCCN 2022032120 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781350322332 (paperback) | ISBN 9781350322349 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781350322356 (epub) | ISBN 9781350322363
Subjects: LCSH: Midwifery.
Classification: LCC RG950 .D87 2023 (print) | LCC RG950
(ebook) | DDC 618.2–dc23/eng/20220719
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022032119
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022032120
ISBN: PB: 978-1-3503-2233-2
ePDF: 978-1-3503-2234-9
eBook: 978-1-3503-2235-6
Series: Bloomsbury Study Skills
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Contents
Introduction 1
1 Time Management 3
Introduction 3
Time management tips from students and midwives 3
80/20 – How to prioritize as a student midwife 5
My to-do list method 6
Big picture time management tools 10
Help with concentration 12
Jess’ to-do list 13
To conclude 19
2 Essays 20
Introduction 20
Why essays exist 20
An overview 21
Your process 21
Assess the question 22
Finding and reading material 26
Choose points 30
Critique material 32
Structure outline 34
Write 38
To conclude 44
3 Exams 46
Introduction 46
How we learn 46
What to learn 46
Before you use a revision technique 47
Active learning revision techniques 48
Strategies for specific types of exam 51
To conclude 60
4 Presentations 61
Introduction 61
Getting started 61
Group presentations 66
Delivery and nervousness 66
Other types of presentation 69
To conclude 72
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vi Contents
5 Reflections 73
Introduction 73
Forms of reflective cycle 73
Why we resist reflections 75
Example reflective assignment [1] 75
Example of a reflective assignment [2] 82
To conclude 85
6 Engaging with Research 87
Introduction 87
Research guides 87
Getting started 88
How research is presented 89
Types of research 89
Quantitative research 91
Qualitative research 92
Study types that can be both quantitative and qualitative 95
Components of research 96
Influences on research 97
Tables, graphs and charts 99
Statistics 100
Overall 108
To conclude 110
7 Your First Midwifery Placements 111
Introduction 111
Uniform/work clothes 111
A list of items for placement 112
Initial placements 112
Rapid learning 114
Further information on midwifery skills 115
Further placements 123
To conclude 125
8 Developing Your Clinical Skills 126
Introduction 126
Documentation 126
Your handover sheet 128
An underestimated skill: anticipating what could happen next 132
Other important clinical skills 135
The skills you should have by the end of your training 136
9 Advocacy, Activism and other Workplace Challenges 140
Introduction 140
Our history and where our challenges come from 140
Modern midwifery and why it’s hard to make headway 142
Advocacy 143
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Contents vii
Activism 146
Bullying in midwifery 150
Whistle-blowing 153
Failure 154
Grief 155
Mental well-being 156
To conclude 157
10 Job Applications and Interviews 158
Introduction 158
Written application skills 158
Examples of written applications 159
Writing an application using a CV and cover letter 166
Interviews 171
To conclude 178
11 Being a Newly Qualified Midwife 179
Introduction 179
Your first shifts as a qualified midwife 179
Time management and prioritization 179
Preceptorship sign-off books and other requirements 180
Your A–Z book 181
Delegating 182
Constructive criticism 184
Reporting poor care 185
Breaks and holidays 185
Celebrating and the emotions that come with the transition to
newly qualified 185
To conclude 186
Conclusion 187
Appendix 189
Bibliography 190
Index 202
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To the students and midwives who keep turning up and
making a difference.
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Introduction
I’d like to start this book with a quote from a blog post I wrote about my
early training:
… you get told a lot that ‘you’re at university level now, you won’t be spoon fed’,
‘you need to develop rhino skin’, etc. At the time I thought I hadn’t experienced
enough of life to be good at absorbing criticism. The reality of the situation
looking back on it is that being on a midwifery degree involves more feedback
and constructive criticism than most other adult settings … I’ve come to realise
that when people look good at learning, it’s because they have a bedrock of
self-belief. The task, which is a brave one, is to find some support and self-
worth and to feel like we deserve that. We have to find ways of building
ourselves up rather than tearing ourselves down.
Midwifery has a high student attrition rate. In the UK, which is where I’m
based, we lose about 30 per cent of midwifery students before qualification
(though 8.5 per cent of these have an interruption of their studies and go on
to complete at a later date) (Astrup 2018). The Royal College of Midwives
cites evidence that 5 to 10 per cent of newly qualified midwives in the UK
leave in their first year and 50 per cent of midwives in their first five years
of practice are considering leaving (RCM 2020: 4). In 2017 I ran a conference
addressing the culture of midwifery that focused on bullying and how to
prevent it. I’m not denying the problems in midwifery, there are many, and
I’m clearly not immune to them.
However, even when I took a break from clinical midwifery for medical
reasons I was still captivated by the profession and started a blog and
Facebook community to support student and newly qualified midwives. I
rejoined the register in 2021 and at the time of writing, I am still glowing
from one beautiful birth on New Year’s Eve and another in early 2022.
Sometimes I can’t believe how lucky I am to be invited to be involved in
these births. Midwifery is a paradox: it has brought me to my knees and
also made me glad to be who I am. I think like many other people who sign
up to study midwifery, I was aware that it was going to be more than I could
handle on some days, but I also knew it would help me lead a meaningful
life. It has delivered on those things.
Back when I was at the start of my degree I was missing some of the
fundamental learning skills that would have made my training so much
easier. There is a lot of assistance out there to guide you on your academic
work and I hope I’ve charted some of these areas. I have covered academic
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