#1
It was my first birth
I stood in the corner until I was asked to come in
I never knew how strong women could be until I met you
And it was a boy
Thank you for letting me hold your hand
My mentor said I was a natural
I felt like I was the chosen one

Birth Partner
'She's had two paracetamol and her husband is at home'
And so I held your hand
And reminded you when to breathe
We laughed a lot, followed by silence
And your daughter arrived.
You let me cut the cord
I nearly fainted

Harry
Change over of shift and we were new faces
You both were so inviting
Letting us into your space
Your husband was so tall, all the midwives were talking about him
I was watching you, breathing down your baby.
And as his ginger hair arrived,
He became a father and you a mother
I've never seen a couple so happy
I thought about you on the bus today
Your son will be one year old now

N
You asked for me that day
If I would be the one caring for you
I promised I was
I promised I'd catch him...
And I did


These are all little stories about births that have touched me.
I have many others and will continue to write them down like this.
This is part of my new blog feature 'reflections'. I hope you like it.

Ruth x

Newly Qualified Midwife Bowler.
I have just today finished my makeup time shifts before registering as a Midwife with the NMC.
I am over the moon as I have worked extremely hard putting in extra curricular effort and personal study to become a midwife over the last three years, but now the realisation hits me and wow, now what?!

I have had a million and one questions in my head recently about my upcoming role as a rotational midwife. Questions mainly surrounding preceptorship and how I will be supported as a newly qualified midwives.

It was highlighted in both the England and Scotland State of Maternity Services Reports by the Royal College of Midwives released on 12/09/18 that for the number of midwives leaving the profession there are not enough newly qualified midwives being employed. An ageing but skilled workforce are leaving and the staffing deficit still remains at around 3500 across UK.

So what does that mean for us newly qualified midwives?
The transition from third year student to newly qualified occurs over a few weeks and although we are signed off as proficient, working independently in a demanding service can be difficult to those trusts already having issues with burnout and staff retention.

A way to help with this has been developed by two different trusts.
Greater Glasgow and Clyde offer a 'purple watch' support system for newly qualified staff. NQM wear the purple fob watch and place a purple magnet next to the woman in their care so other members of staff can identify the NQM and are aware they may require further support during the shift. The NQM can stop wearing the watch once they feel more competent.

I love this idea as it identifies the NQM without the presumption they may need support, but allows team to structure support needed amongst them during the shift.



(Source: Elizabeth Barilli Twitter)

The other system was implemented for all new staff undertaking preceptorship at a South West England Hospital who were given a badge to identify they were undertaking their preceptorship year.


(Source: Nursing Times Twitter)

With many staff reporting unsupportive work environments, bullying in the work place, staff shortages and morale issues - implementing a support system from the beginning of people's career may help to build a different workplace culture and hopefully better working environment helping to retain staff withing maternity services.

As I enter my preceptorship year I'm looking to see if my trust can implement a similar system for NQM, and I will also bring this support system into my skills I hope to use as a future mentor to new student midwives.

How does your trust support newly qualified midwives in their preceptorship year?
Let me know in the comments below.

Ruth x

PS - My twitter handle will be changing soon as I am no longer a student! Keep your eyes peeled here and on my Instagram @sagefeminist_

Since creating this blog I have been flooded with requests and follows from loads of fantastic student midwives and newly qualified midwives about starting social media accounts. Asking for advice on how to develop a professional relationship between social media and midwifery, and how I developed my personal social media style.

I have been an avid tweeter personally but started a student midwife account (@ruth_stmw) at the MAMA conference in 2017 where I was inspired by the twitter power of Sheena Byrom!
I began by tweeting my thoughts and experiences of the speakers and topics at the conference. Tis helped me to connect with a number of other midwives and student midwives in the community.
I quickly decided to develop a blog to share my experiences as a student midwife but also develop an area using infographics to support students learning.

I was then approached by Sheena and Anna Byrom on twitter to collaborate with a few other students on a student persepective for the new The Practising Midwife Journal and I joined the editorial board. I also supported them with two other amazing student midwives (Charlene and Ali) to launch ‘the future midwife blog’ on All 4 Maternity.

Since then the community on twitter has grown,  and encouragingly the number of student midwife blogs has also grown! Social media usage has begun to be promoted and accepted as a form of midwifery learning and discussion. My university has promoted my blog on twitter, retweeted students opinions and now encouraged students to use social media to engage with midwifery community.

I have recently expanded my social media presence onto Instagram to link with this blog and document my journey to becoming a newly qualified midwife. I'm also hoping it will continue to benefit my passion of supporting new student midwives in their training and midwifery journey. By using visual imagery I'm hoping to put a more personal note to my blog posts and promote some visual learning and great midwifery personalities on Instagram.

So follow me at @sagefeminist_

Feel free to continue to send me messages on how to develop social media for student midwives, on developing a social media profile or any advice on using twitter in Midwifery Community.

Look up the following hashtags to join in! Hashtags help community interact and find like minded individuals on twitter / Instagram.

#WeMidwives
#InItTogether
#StudentMidwife
#MidwiferyStudent
#NewlyQualifiedMidwife

My style has continued to be the same level of friendly professionalism I bring into my work, however I love to share personal achievements and opinions hence why my twitter bio includes 'All Opinions Are My Own' an important inclusion in a world where our employers or educators can see what we put out into social media platforms.

If you're inspired - start with twitter and check out my Inspirational Midwives blog post on some midwives as I've included their twitter handles!


Ruth x

'We're going to get the doctor to give you a hand'
'Baby doesn't like when you do that'
'Its best if baby comes out sooner'

How often are we told that one of the key roles of the midwife is communication, and yet how often are we experiencing old outdated phrases from medical staff and colleagues, repeated merely in learnt behaviour, to women and families?

As a first year student I found it difficult to find my 'voice' when caring for mothers and families, often repeating what I had heard from other midwives and medical staff - often patronising and unclear.

We are constantly taught that to communicate well we should avoid technical and medical jargon, but I question whether this is really helping mothers in regaining the control they often desire during childbirth.

After developing my Midwifery style three years I have become more focused on creating a positive birth environment including keeping women informed during the journey. This is more commonly experienced when caring for women in labour ward, and interventions are required.

Often I find myself using my advocating role to explain procedures and medical staff plans to the woman and her birth partner.
This has developed from my experiences of really being 'with-woman' and experiencing the look that they often get when procedures or intervention are discussed and they physically glance to myself as the midwife, not for guidance but more for explanation.

Many times I have found myself looking at the woman and partner explaining 'this means the doctor is suggesting a forceps delivery' when they are faced with the comment 'we will give baby a hand to be delivered'. The consent is often ignored and I find myself being the one to put the control back into the woman's hands by explaining why this is suggested and if she wishes for this to happen. Often this takes a matter of seconds but is often followed by a thank you or understanding nod which relaxes the woman and removes some negative energy surrounding the impending intervention.

Language can build trust, which is key in providing women centred care and I find talking with the women I am caring for, discussing their wishes and wants for birth, along sometimes with discussions surrounding potential interventions (for example, the potential need for neonatal resuscitation if meconium is present in liquor) creates a bond, and can promote calm well informed birthing experience.

Many families I have cared for state they 'didn't know what was going on' in previous traumatic deliveries and as this is my area of interest I always ensure I spent time discussing their worries or concerns and answering any small or large question they have. Even non verbal body language such as a smile during a contraction, a nod of the head when they reach for the gas and air. I believe good communication can prevent birth trauma occurring again.

I will constantly be reminded of this from an experience at the beginning of this year where continuity meant I had spent two days caring for a woman undergoing induction of labour. Our communications surrounded the reasoning for this (reduced fetal movements), her concerns, her previous births meant that when her membranes ruptured in the induction ward and she felt the spontaneous urge to push, merely eye contact allowed her to calm and be transferred to a labour room. Each contraction she made direct eye contact with me, a direct form of non verbal communication, a show of trust built on a developing relationship.
Afterwards she stated she looked at me because if I was calm she knew everything was going to be okay.