This was incredibly helpful, I qualify in the UK in 5 weeks and start my job at a brand new hospital October so I’m getting quite anxious now. The best advice I ever received was “sometimes you’ll freeze, and it happens to all of us, that’s why you can always call for help and have a team with you in less than a minute” always helps me to feel more calm about it xx
Thanks for sharing - I too find it the most valuable to hear stories from midwives and midwifery students from their experiences and how they handled them. We are all learners at different stages!
As I’m coming to the end of my first year I’m being a lot more worried about how to react especially in emergency situations. In the UK year two solely focuses on high risk care so any advice on how to cope during events such as forceps, caesareans, bradycardia/tachycardia and PPH would be amazing. I’ve watched your videos since before I even started the application process and they’ve always been so helpful and educational.
Hiya! I’m a 3rd year student in the UK and I qualify in 5 weeks, I trained at a high risk unit in London that had emergencies everyday. Emergencies as a student can feel quite awkward, especially if the bell goes off and it isn’t for someone you are in the care for. Although it can be a beneficial experience to run to a room when the bell goes off to observe, you can then be asked to do things you don’t know how to do or grab stuff that you have no idea where to find. Sometimes if a mass of people run to an emergency, don’t feel the pressure to run as well as the over crowding of a room isn’t helpful. I’m not sure how it works at your university, but in my 3rd year we do an emergency OSCE and that really changed the game for me in terms of knowing exactly what to do in a PPH, NNR or a should dystopia. Try not to see forceps and ventouse as an emergency, just a little “help for baby”, in that situation as the midwife your main role is to be there for mum, encourage her, tell her she’s amazing....all the things you might do in a normal pushing situation. It can also be helpful to hold the CTG in place for the Dr, as the further down the bay gets the lower the USS needs to be, but when the head is practically out, don’t worry too much if you can’t find the FHR. You will become more and more confident with CTG interpretation as the years go by, it’s only really now that I feel good about CTG’s and even as a midwife ALWAYS get a second opinion on things if you aren’t sure, it’s safe to do that and doesn’t make you look stupid. If you are in a room on your own and something happens like a prolonged decel, turn the woman onto her left side, readjust the CTG to make sure it can still pick up with the change in position, and check that it’s not picking up maternal pulse. Press the call bell and a midwife will come in, if the decel continues she will likely press the emergency bell. In any emergency often the mother can be neglected, because everyone is so focused on the emergency e.g. stopping the bleeding, resuscitating the baby. In those moments as a student you can make a huge difference to the woman’s experience by staying by her side, explaining what is going on and reassuring her! If you want to know the exact step by step process of what to do in an emergency the PROMPT book is amazing, really helped me with me 3rd year OSCE. Lay the pressure off of yourself as well, everyone’s midwifery journey is different, and for me my confidence truly hit me in 3rd year, at the end of 2nd year I didn’t actually feel very different than in 1st year and that really scared me, but take the pressure off of yourself to have to know what to do with the high risk and emergencies, I know 2nd year focuses in on that, but it’s more to just get you thinking about it than anything else. Hope this helps! Xxx
Alice Smith I know what you mean about being asked to do things in an emergency. On my first student shift in birth suite I was asked by the paed to watch a baby she was concerned about immediately post birth while she called a senior doctor. Scary stuff but I just had to stay calm and remember my abcs and seek help if I needed it. I think emotional support for the woman is a great way to be involved in emergencies when you’re not sure.
Ive just recently found your channel. I love it. Im a mum of four (10, 4, 3 and 1) and am just finishing my first year of my bachelor of midwifery. I'm already starting to worry about getting a graduate job in two years and wondering if you have any tips?
The sparkling in your eyes almost moved me to tears. Today I received the offer of a full time permanent job as a midwife in the UK and I am over the moon. My absolute passion and calling in life as well and my dream coming true. Thank you for your wonderful channel and greetings from an Italian midwife
I work in the neonatal icu and this happens so often but our babies are monitored and the alarms ding and we can fix it right away with the neopuff that's right there. My biggest fear is with our unmonitored babies!!! Like eeek we tell the parents not to rely on the monitor but we do it too!! It's funny I had a midwifery student with me once and she came over to tell me in a panic that one of my babies was lying on it's tummy and had faceplanted into the sheet!!! I looked and the sats were 99% .. I was like he's just chilling, we don't safe sleep premature babies because lying on their back is not ideal! But she could not deal with a baby on it's front!!! It was cute!!
Thanks for the video. I’ve been waiting for a post from you! I new graduate midwife told me recently that you only know as much at the start of grad year as you know at the end of third year.
This was incredibly helpful, I qualify in the UK in 5 weeks and start my job at a brand new hospital October so I’m getting quite anxious now. The best advice I ever received was “sometimes you’ll freeze, and it happens to all of us, that’s why you can always call for help and have a team with you in less than a minute” always helps me to feel more calm about it xx
Thanks for sharing - I too find it the most valuable to hear stories from midwives and midwifery students from their experiences and how they handled them. We are all learners at different stages!
As I’m coming to the end of my first year I’m being a lot more worried about how to react especially in emergency situations. In the UK year two solely focuses on high risk care so any advice on how to cope during events such as forceps, caesareans, bradycardia/tachycardia and PPH would be amazing. I’ve watched your videos since before I even started the application process and they’ve always been so helpful and educational.
Kate O I’m in the exact same situation. A video on this would be tremendously helpful!
Hiya! I’m a 3rd year student in the UK and I qualify in 5 weeks, I trained at a high risk unit in London that had emergencies everyday. Emergencies as a student can feel quite awkward, especially if the bell goes off and it isn’t for someone you are in the care for. Although it can be a beneficial experience to run to a room when the bell goes off to observe, you can then be asked to do things you don’t know how to do or grab stuff that you have no idea where to find. Sometimes if a mass of people run to an emergency, don’t feel the pressure to run as well as the over crowding of a room isn’t helpful.
I’m not sure how it works at your university, but in my 3rd year we do an emergency OSCE and that really changed the game for me in terms of knowing exactly what to do in a PPH, NNR or a should dystopia.
Try not to see forceps and ventouse as an emergency, just a little “help for baby”, in that situation as the midwife your main role is to be there for mum, encourage her, tell her she’s amazing....all the things you might do in a normal pushing situation. It can also be helpful to hold the CTG in place for the Dr, as the further down the bay gets the lower the USS needs to be, but when the head is practically out, don’t worry too much if you can’t find the FHR.
You will become more and more confident with CTG interpretation as the years go by, it’s only really now that I feel good about CTG’s and even as a midwife ALWAYS get a second opinion on things if you aren’t sure, it’s safe to do that and doesn’t make you look stupid.
If you are in a room on your own and something happens like a prolonged decel, turn the woman onto her left side, readjust the CTG to make sure it can still pick up with the change in position, and check that it’s not picking up maternal pulse. Press the call bell and a midwife will come in, if the decel continues she will likely press the emergency bell.
In any emergency often the mother can be neglected, because everyone is so focused on the emergency e.g. stopping the bleeding, resuscitating the baby. In those moments as a student you can make a huge difference to the woman’s experience by staying by her side, explaining what is going on and reassuring her! If you want to know the exact step by step process of what to do in an emergency the PROMPT book is amazing, really helped me with me 3rd year OSCE.
Lay the pressure off of yourself as well, everyone’s midwifery journey is different, and for me my confidence truly hit me in 3rd year, at the end of 2nd year I didn’t actually feel very different than in 1st year and that really scared me, but take the pressure off of yourself to have to know what to do with the high risk and emergencies, I know 2nd year focuses in on that, but it’s more to just get you thinking about it than anything else. Hope this helps! Xxx
This was extremely helpful! Thank you so much!
Alice Smith I know what you mean about being asked to do things in an emergency. On my first student shift in birth suite I was asked by the paed to watch a baby she was concerned about immediately post birth while she called a senior doctor. Scary stuff but I just had to stay calm and remember my abcs and seek help if I needed it. I think emotional support for the woman is a great way to be involved in emergencies when you’re not sure.
Ive just recently found your channel. I love it. Im a mum of four (10, 4, 3 and 1) and am just finishing my first year of my bachelor of midwifery. I'm already starting to worry about getting a graduate job in two years and wondering if you have any tips?
The sparkling in your eyes almost moved me to tears. Today I received the offer of a full time permanent job as a midwife in the UK and I am over the moon. My absolute passion and calling in life as well and my dream coming true. Thank you for your wonderful channel and greetings from an Italian midwife
I work in the neonatal icu and this happens so often but our babies are monitored and the alarms ding and we can fix it right away with the neopuff that's right there. My biggest fear is with our unmonitored babies!!! Like eeek we tell the parents not to rely on the monitor but we do it too!! It's funny I had a midwifery student with me once and she came over to tell me in a panic that one of my babies was lying on it's tummy and had faceplanted into the sheet!!! I looked and the sats were 99% .. I was like he's just chilling, we don't safe sleep premature babies because lying on their back is not ideal! But she could not deal with a baby on it's front!!! It was cute!!
Well done for handling the situation x
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thanks for the video. I’ve been waiting for a post from you! I new graduate midwife told me recently that you only know as much at the start of grad year as you know at the end of third year.
Thanks for sharing! I would of loved to have you as my midwife - you are so passionate about what you do! 😙
Dear, can a pregnant woman cope in school of midwifery? Considering d work load involve?
What is a baby blue? I come from germany and I'm very interested in you job but I can't unterstand everything...
When they are not getting enough oxygen so they start turning blue.
Get on with it