Ok, here we are you lucky lucky things – this week, you get TWO Midwife Mondays posts! I’m selling that like it’s a massive bonus for you guys and not that I simply was far too blooming’ busy last week to get a post up…but I’m gonna go with it!
As you can imagine from the fact that I literally didn’t get a post up last week AT ALL, it’s been a busy fortnight!
So, as I have two posts to try to whack out today (‘try’ being the operative word here!) this will be a pretty quick one. So, what did I get up to the week before last in the world of midwifery?
On Monday we were in uni for the morning. We had a guest lecturer come in and talk to us about contraception – all the different types and how they work. I have to say, when I first heard we were going to be having a lecture on contraception, I thought it might be a bit of a waste of time. I have got to 27 years old without getting pregnant, surely I know my options, and how they work already?! So I was pleasantly surprised to learn a huge amount about how they work and what the most effective methods are – I learnt a lot from it actually – very useful session really!
Monday afternoon was set aside for self-led revision, as was Tuesday and Wednesday – they really are getting us ready for exam time now – eek!
On Thursday we had a morning of learning all about C-Sections and VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Caesarean) including the logistics, physiology and the risks and benefits. Having witnessed 5 or 6 c-sections now – both elective and emergency (my birth record isn’t with me as I write this so I can’t check exact numbers!) it was quite nice to have the process explained and things like the different types of anaesthetic gone through so that I can reflect on what I have seen so far in practise and understand it all a little better.
Thursday afternoon was focussed on the Law and Ethics of midwifery – the legal obligations we have as care givers, and how to protect ourselves against potential legal action (documentation, documentation, documentation!)
It was very interesting discussing things like the point at which the baby has human rights – in the UK, the foetus doesn’t have any rights whatsoever, but as soon as the baby is born, it does – makes for really interesting conversations and debates!
As my course is one of the midwifery degree courses in the UK that also gives you the NIPE qualification, we have to get 11 top-to-toe newborn checks signed off in our books for first year – These aren’t the full NIPE check (as we are only first year) but they are a top-to-toe check. As I only had 4 in my book for the year so far, I had booked onto a morning with a NIPE practitioner on Friday to get some of the rest of mine signed off. We managed to get 3 done, so I was up to 7. Just 4 left to go!
Then on Saturday, we spent the day in Bristol, hanging out with some good friends over a few g&ts, and on Sunday I was singing in a big concert at the Wales Millennium Centre (for those of you who don’t know, my first degree was in musical theatre and I still perform professionally on a regular basis – here’s a post with more “fun facts about me” in case you fancy having a read!)
So, you can see, it was a busy one, and the following week’s post will be up shortly too – it’s been a mad fortnight!
Image by Irina Murza
To read last week’s “Midwife Mondays” post, click here
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