Strengthen Your application

There are many ways to strengthen an application, a few are listed below. Anything that will show your commitment and interest will go down well, so even if it’s just completing a first aid course or an extra qualification it will be worth the effort.

Care work
Contact your local maternity unit, independent midwife or Sure Start Centre (to name but a few) to ask about part/full time work or volunteering opportunities. Any kind of caring role will look brilliant on your application, and if you can find anything that will give you an insight into the role of a midwife that would be even better.

Reading around
Books such as Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth and Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent are really good reads and will give you a good insight into the day-to-day work of a midwife. Getting stuck into heavy textbooks probably won’t do you much good in the early days but have a browse in your local library and see if anything catches your eye. We have a book review section both on the website and the forum so check out what some of our users recommend.

Subscriptions
Subscribing to Midwifery Journals is a really good way to familiarise yourself with midwifery language and some of the big issues in maternity care. The British Journal of Midwifery is available at larger WHSmith stores, but is expensive and quite advanced stuff. A much easier read would be something like the Practising Midwife, which is a monthly magazine that has student sections and news updates. Student subscriptions (also available to wannabe’s) start at £20 per year. Another good read for students is Midwifery Matters, a quarterly publication that comes free for members of the Association of Radical Midwives. Membership costs £12.50 per year for concessions, and is well worth it just for the magazines!

Events
Start looking out for events in your area. This could be anything from a local breastfeeding promotion day, to a full blown midwifery conference. See what’s advertised both on our site and in places like the Practising Midwife. You might also be interested in joining a local midwifery group such as the Association of Radical Midwives, who welcome students and wannabe’s enthusiastically and can be a great source of support. Members of TMS also hold regular meets, so see if there are any of us in your area by joining in on the forum.

 

Source: Written by Anonymous: Student Midwife. Copyright The Midwifery Sanctuary