It’s not long now until festive TV starts livening up the dark nights. Call The Midwife Christmas Special has become one of the must-watch shows of the season.
The tears, the laughter, the joy . . . the screaming!
Gathering round to watch it is almost as traditional as chocolate for breakfast and badly knitted sweaters – thanks Granny Ina!
But what is the reality of being a modern day midwife?
For starters, it’s a great choice for a long-term career, as it’s a job that will always be in demand. After all, there is One Born Every Minute.
To qualify nowadays, you’ll need a degree. Some do a nursing degree then further study to qualify.
Alternatively, you can complete a degree in midwifery. In Scotland this takes four years. If you don’t have the qualifications to go straight to university, you can complete an access course.
Once qualified, midwives are either hospital-based or working in the community. Hospital midwives work in both antenatal and post-natal wards.
In antenatal wards you’ll be seeing pregnant women for regular appointments to check the pregnancy is progressing as normal.
Community midwives, who are based either at local hospitals or in smaller healthcare centres, will also see women at regular intervals during their pregnancy.
As soon as a new mum and her baby are discharged from hospital the community midwife will call at their home. Sometimes this is on a daily basis, sometimes every couple of days, until the baby is 10 days old.
If there are no issues and the baby is putting on weight, the mother and baby are discharged from midwife’s care and into that of the health visitor.
Aside from qualifications, there are other qualities highly desirable in a midwife.
Great communication skills are vital for giving medical information in an easy to understand way. The ability to keep calm in stressful situations will also serve you well, especially if you work in the labour ward!
Being empathetic can also make a huge difference to the patients’ experience.
The pay scale starts at around £20,000 for newly qualified NHS midwives, rising to around £27,000 with three to five years experience and on to £30,000.
Although a demanding role, it can be extremely satisfying – you’re with parent’s at the most significant event, bringing new life into the world.
It doesn’t get any better than that!
Find life-affirming roles in the Medical and Healthcare sector with s1jobs