So you've decided you'd like to do your midwife training in the UK. Read the following 10 facts to check this is the career for you!

1. You'll get quite sleep deprived. Midwife training in the UK involves doing shifts; early, late, night, 12 hour and overtime are all non-negotiable.
2. It's a huge amount of work. You know how much work you've ever done in your life so far? Double it, and you have a midwifery course. Midwife training in the UK is a full time 3 year degree with 50% practical work in hospitals/community settings. The other 50% is spent cramming, writing essays, revising and doing exams!
3. It's fascinating. Placement is different every day. It's unlike anything else you've studied, it's totally engaging.
4. You'll get life experience coming out of your ears.
5. From year one, you'll be looking after women. Midwife training in the UK is vocational and sensational 🙂
6. You'll get scared. Midwifery at times can be really frightening. But the high you get from knowing how to cope with scary situations is fantastic - you'll feel worthwhile.
7. Sometimes you'll have basically no free time. Think really hard about your social situation and your support because at times you'll have 72 hours worth of work to do in 24.
8. You'll get criticised. Midwife training in the UK is hands on, and you'll work under pressure, often in understaffed teams, and with complex medical situations. Learning how to do that involves some criticism from mentors (though the good ones will make it easy and pleasant for you to apply the info!) - you'll need to be resilient to get through with your passion intact
9. It's not Call The Midwife (they seem to spend a lot of time having tea and chatting) or One Born Every Minute (You know all that time they spend eating cake? That was filmed on ONE shift and then the footage was spread out over the series. The shift:cake ratio is sadly lacking at around 10:1)
10. It's rewarding. I can't imagine a more professionally satisfying moment than watching a mum bring her baby up to her chest for the first time, after having birthed on her own terms. Being chained to a desk would be a rubbish job!

Do you know an aspiring midwife in the making? Like and share this post with them!

If you'd like more stuff on training as midwife in the UK, take a look at the Aspiring Midwives section.