Did you know Ellie offers one to one support in writing your job application as a newly qualified midwife? See here for more.

Many of us are extremely tired and overwhelmed by the time we need to put an application together for that first midwifery post. It’s a weird time to be trying to sing your own praises, or at least it was for me. I had nerves about becoming qualified, I was skint, and I was feeling under scrutiny as my final placements were coming up.

However, application writing can be a confidence-building activity. Managers reading student or newly qualified applications will be pleased to hear from you, they get it’s a big moment and it’s lovely to hear from new midwives joining the register.

I promise it can be fun and it doesn’t have to take that much time.

What’s in a newly qualified midwife job application?

In the UK, at least, you will be putting together an application using an online form. This will have boxes for you to document your:

• Education and qualifications

• Relevant training or completion of courses

• Employment history

• Volunteer history

You will then tend to have space for a longform personal statement/supporting information section. This may be presented as a task e.g.: ‘Discuss the personal attributes, experiences, any academic or practical interests and the reasons you are applying’/’Explain the reasons you are applying for this job and your talents and strengths which make you an excellent candidate for this post’.

Whatever the wording, this section comes down to one thing, which is, why are you going to be an excellent midwife? What can you offer to the trust, your future colleagues, and the women, birthing people and families you will be caring for?

You’ll need to pull from the personal specification of the job to write this section. You may find the specification is in corporate-speak but don’t be fooled, you know all of this stuff, or you will do with just a little Googling.

Here are some examples of topics you might want to include in your statement.

1. Your experience and intentions around practising autonomously in midwife-led settings

2. Your experience and intentions around practising in complex care situations as a member of the multidisciplinary team, including in emergencies

3. An awareness of audit, research, and clinical governance

4. Insight into current reports and care bundles (for instance, the Ockenden report, MBRRACE, Saving Babies Lives, Each Baby Counts).

5. Look up the written values of the trust, which will be something like ‘patient-centred, fair, collaborative, accountable and empowered.’ (this is an example from Leeds Teaching Hospitals). Work out how these apply and add this in.

And here are some tips for writing a brilliant personal statement:

1. In the first sentence, explain what you can offer as a midwife. This helps you get to the point and sell yourself.

2. Make sure everything else your write follows the rule ‘think not what midwifery can do for you, but what you can do for midwifery’.

3. If you have been involved with a piece of research, or undertaken a particular project or assignment which was exciting and felt like it would have a real impact on clients, mention it.

4. Mention skills you would like to gain which will help you transition to the next stage of your career (for most of us this will be band 6). For instance, have you already attempted a cannula, suturing, taking blood cultures etc.? Help the recruitment staff imagine you progressing in your career.

5. If you have a future aspiration as a labour ward co-ordinator, manager, or specialist midwife, mention it. (Plans to move towards a different role such as being a health visitor, or wanting to work overseas, are brilliant goals. But avoid seeming like your first job as a midwife is a stepping stone.)

If you want one to one support writing your application, drop me a line on team@midwifediaries.com.

An Example Personal Statement from a Band 5 Application

This has been edited to ensure anonymity. It was written when this midwife was a final year midwifery student. I think this statement is exceptional, thanks to the midwife who let me use it!

I am applying to Danebury NHS Hospitals Trust as I am keen to join a maternity unit with a Good CQC rating. The Trust has a forward-focussed attitude, actively pursuing improvements aligning with the Better Births initiative and aiming for Gold standard Baby Friendly Initiative status. Throughout my third-year placement at St Thomas’ the CPE team has supported me to develop my courage and initiative, and actively participate with the wider multi-disciplinary team. I am student champion for the newly reformed “Saving Babies’ Lives Working Group” where I have witnessed the Trust Value of ‘excellence in our team’. The collaboration of staff to effectively implement the bundle to benefit birthing people and their babies, and continue to support the students and midwives applying these interventions reflects this. Furthermore, the maternity team, from assistants through to consultants, have encouraged me to reflect the Trust Values in my own practice, reinforcing personal accountability and motivating me to provide individualised, safe, and efficient care.

Throughout my midwifery training I have relished cultivating my knowledge of childbearing anatomy and physiology, applying this understanding through evidence-based practice. I particularly valued consolidating fetal physiology with cardiotocography (CTG) interpretation. This knowledge enables me to challenge practice and escalate concerns swiftly whilst maintaining conservative measures. This has been particularly useful during my placement on the Antenatal Ward when interpreting CTGs for clients receiving induction of labour; identification and prompt management of uterine hyperstimulation in medicated induction is crucial to prevent poor fetal outcomes. On one occasion, I detected uterine hyperstimulation through observation of the client and subsequent abdominal palpation. My mentor was on Labour Ward transferring an emergency case, so I proactively commenced CTG to confirm the findings. I noted contractions lasting greater than ninety seconds, occurring more than five times in ten minutes. The fetal baseline heartrate was above 160, which was not only increased from prior CTGs but also inappropriate for the gestational age. I immediately escalated to the midwife in charge so I could remove the pericervical prostaglandin pessary and asked her to prepare terbutaline in the meantime.

I requested to spend my elective placement with the fetal wellbeing midwife, who cultivated my knowledge of monitoring fetal wellbeing. Observing and participating in the management and audit of cases with poor outcomes demonstrated the rationale behind midwifery screening processes, such as CO monitoring which is beyond the University curriculum. I facilitated a CTG meeting with Rosaline Brown discussing a case I had been involved in and identify learning outcomes and opportunities for improved care in the future. Using this knowledge, I developed an infographic for the management of fetal bradycardia based on the principles of 3/6/9 minutes, which has been disseminated throughout the unit. With the infographic, I challenged the use of language by changing “aim for delivery” to “aim for birth”; although it is difficult to adjust entrenched terminology, it is important to be mindful of the impact our words have on the confidence and empowerment of those at the heart of our care.

At University, I was nominated by lecturers to become an Academic Mentor, supporting junior students with practical skills and academic work. I undertook training to facilitate reflective group sessions to support students with personal or midwifery-related problems and in facilitating sessions in clinical skills and anatomy and physiology. These experiences have strengthened my leadership skills and developed my confidence in delegating workload to junior academic mentors; skills which will benefit me when in charge of the ward or providing practice supervision for students.

At Danebury University’s annual “Diversity Day” celebration, I presented LGBTQ+ inclusion within maternity care, encouraging students to confront their own personal bias when providing care to gender non-conforming or trans people and their families. Although often seen as a contentious topic within midwifery, research shows healthcare professionals lack knowledge, confidence and guidance when providing care to transmasculine or non-binary clients. To address this, I am in the process of drafting a guideline to educate and support maternity staff at St Thomas’s, with the support of the Quality Improvements team.

I work hard to facilitate informed choice, and to empower clients to be actively involved in planning their own pregnancy, birth, and postnatal care. Compassion, communication, and empathy are always at the heart of my work. I take pride in providing holistic care, and in developing a positive rapport with the diverse individuals accessing maternity services. With extensive prior experience in primary, secondary, and social care; I have been able to utilise my midwifery training to build upon the foundations of care learned as a band four associate practitioner as I transition into an autonomous, accountable midwife, with a passion for promoting physiological birth.

I previously worked as Infection Prevention and Control Lead within a GP surgery, acquiring skills in audit, and making use of a variety of IT systems such as ICE, EMIS Web, and Microsoft Excel. I quickly developed time-management skills when restricted by ten-minute appointment slots to ensure I finished on time, benefiting clients, and preventing a backlog of work for my colleagues. This experience was particularly beneficial during my antenatal Clinic and community placements, as I could work within appointment constraints whilst completing appropriate antenatal screening, with consent, and continue providing supportive, individualised, person-centred care. I always ensure accurate and contemporaneous documentation on Badgernet, making use of appropriate checklists where possible.

I co-authored a peer-reviewed article on deinfibulation, a vital skill that student midwives are not introduced to – yet we are taught episiotomy and complex perineal pelvic floor muscle repair; perhaps midwifery education needs adapting to meet the needs of Female Genital Cutting survivors?

Sharing knowledge is an integral part of midwifery practice, and students deserve to be respected and supported throughout their placements. My third-year dissertation was entitled “Preserving Safety in Practice: exploring final-year student midwives’ experiences of raising concerns”, a research proposal to investigate whether student midwives feel adequately prepared to raise concerns in practice, as per the NMC requirements, at the point of registration. Despite the potential moral, professional, and ethical repercussions of withholding reports of malpractice, research shows students are more often complicit than speaking out, with the recent Ockenden Report reflecting this trend. Solid support networks in place for students, such as the fantastic CPE team at St Thomas’s, ensures students can escalate concerns where necessary. I am keen to start midwifery at a teaching hospital where I can continue to nurture students; a supportive and interested practice supervisor makes a significant difference to students’ experience and frames their future midwifery practice.

Midwifery is a holistic profession and the preceptorship programme at St Thomas’s reflects this by offering preceptees the opportunity to establish practice within integrated continuity teams. Although I enjoy all aspects of midwifery, Labour Ward is where my heart lies. I would love to practice within a continuity team with exposure to Community care and the Birth Centre, alongside high-risk Labour Ward care.

I would love to continue participating in the Saving Babies Lives’ Working Group and continue supporting the implementation of the bundle. I am eager to use my preceptorship period to consolidate my skill and establish the essential competencies within a continuity team. I aim to undertake the NIPE course in the future to expand my repertoire of skills and provide clients with continuity within the community. Offering NIPE as part of routine postnatal visits could reduce footfall to the hospital for families who can be discharged swiftly, providing better continuity and outcomes without needing to refer to senior colleagues. This is particularly pertinent for the new home birth team starting at St Thomas’s.

As a proactive person I am proud of the way the trust has listened to students and implement new guidance to ensure excellent care, especially around Saving Babies Lives and the excellent documentation needed around these guidelines. I am interested in how to provide timely and comprehensive care to meet the needs of each shift, to ensure the patients (or clients) are always put first.

I am a proactive student, and have sought out learning opportunities at every stage of my training. I take personal responsibility to ensure my openness and honesty with colleagues and clients, promoting safety and challenging care where required. I hope to continue consolidating my skills, and to have the needed passion for excellence in midwifery care to start my career in midwifery at St Thomas’s hospital.

If you want one to one support writing your application, drop me a line on team@midwifediaries.com