‘Ellie, what are some funny student midwife fails you’ve come across in practice?’
‘Student Midwife Fails’ sounds like a bit of a mean title for a video - but on reflection I think I’ve been asked because we all need reassurance about getting things wrong.
Actually, student midwife ‘fails’ aren’t such a bad thing.
Yes, as midwives and student midwives we do a critically important job, and we should strive to get things right.
But failure is an excellent way to learn. In fact, people who are perceived as ‘successful’ actually fail more than their more ‘perfect’ counterparts.
Plus, some of the things we get wrong in practice are hilarious. Being a midwife some days can feel like stumbling from comedy sketch to comedy sketch.
I’d love to hear about your gaffs, student or otherwise, in the comments below!
You might just be the reason for someone being able to get up again and face their shift 🙂
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Post edit: My best midwifery mate, Emily, would like to add here some of her epic student midwife fails and qualified midwife fails:
- Enthusiastically peering at buldging membranes and getting a full on drench as the lady's membrane rupture.
- Dropping an entire sonicaid in a pool (gosh, haven't we all been there).
- (My personal favourite here) Flicking a (thankfully) solid turd while rolling a lady off an inco sheet, which landed the other side of the room.
- Not milking the cord before clamping and cutting and ending up with a face splatter.
Thanks Emily, I thought it was just me!
I had a student who was doing her first VE and unfortunately from the look on the woman’s face I guessed the awful truth, wrong passage…. Very embarrassed student but luckily a woman with a great sence of humour, she said ‘I don’t think your going to find a baby up there’!
Haha, that’s a fantastic response from the woman! I’ve heard of one other (brilliant) midwife who did this at her first VE too! Genius!