• Question: are u still there if you are do u like your job and i want to be a midwife when im older,does that include science

    Asked by amyconnor to Sarah, Austin on 14 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Austin Elliott

      Austin Elliott answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      Being a midwife certainly includes some science, amy, especially biology and chemistry. All the healthcare professions do, especially ones that may involve dishing out drugs. I teach students doing nursing degrees, and midwifery degrees are probably quite similar.

      Having been at the birth of both my kids I’ve got a lot of respect for midwives. And my wife used to work with them when she was an anaesthetics doctor. Our first child was quite a long labour, with an epidural and an oxytocin drip, and we had a midwife running it all. She was one of the ones my wife had worked with and trusted, and she was absolutely brilliant.

    • Photo: Sarah Hart

      Sarah Hart answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      Hi Amy, I love my job most days, and it is varied enough that if I’m doing something I really don’t enjoy one week, the next is unlikely to be the same.
      I teach classes on inter-professional education for healthcare students from across the Faculty of Health here, which includes nursing, midwifery, pharmacy and medical students, to help them to learn to work in what we call ‘multi-disciplinary’ teams. Having science qualifications is definitely looked upon favourably for entry to midwifery degree programs (see http://www.keele.ac.uk/nursingandmidwifery/prospectiveundergraduatestudents/midwifery/Midwifery%20degree.pdf) for details of entry criteria to Keele for an example, and you will definitely need to know quite a bit about biology!
      The midwives who looked after me prior to and following my daughter’s birth last year were very helpful and gave me a lot of advice, and took really good care of the two of us.
      HTH

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