More Lectures

I am well and truly into lectures now, and I am hoping to get started on my assignments soon to get them out of the way.

A few exciting prospects have surfaced- including the opportunity to write an article with one of the senior lecturers. To be published before I have even graduated would be such a huge honour- so I will be working hard over the next few weeks to write a really decent piece.

Next week I am attending a conference on FGC (Female genital cutting, often referred to as FGM). It is a topic I am particularly passionate about so I intend to learn how the NHS and department of health intend to implement services and safeguarding measures in my region, and I will hopefully expand my knowledge on the subject in the process.

I am also getting together with a group of women who have kindly agreed to meet with me through a local division of a national bereavement charity. They will share with me their personal experiences of miscarriage, stillbirth and infant loss, in the hope for me to develop my understanding as a student midwife. I am hoping this will equip me to provide a high standard of individualised, compassionate care to the families I come across who are going through these incredibly difficult times. This experience will hopefully complement the learning I have undertaken over the past week in lectures. I have benefitted from both a theoretical lecture and a workshop on bereavement in midwifery. Although I found the lectures hard-hitting and difficult; I am grateful we have had the opportunity to learn more, as it is important to be as prepared as possible for practice.

This week I received my results for the dreaded pathophysiology exam- and by some miracle I got a high 2:1! I am ecstatic with this result as I feel I struggle with the general science element of the course. We studied pathophysiology alongside the nursing students who are much more likely to come across anaphylaxis, pneumonia or other critical conditions. I am always more confident when I’m being examined on something I have already learned about or witnessed in practice. The clientele that midwives work with are generally young healthy women going through a natural physiological process.  However- I worked hard and with my result I feel more confident in identifying symptoms in a case where a deviation from normality may indicate a medical problem.

Until next time!