During my three years of training to be a midwife, I have worked in a busy hospital just outside of London. I have been exposed to a number of obstetric emergencies and have gained experience in caring for women with complex needs.
While this has equipped me with important skills, I felt that I lacked experience in low-risk care.
Then, while working in the community, I was lucky enough to be invited to a home birth, which can be a rare occurrence. Although rates of home birth are slowly increasing, the home birth rate in the UK remains low at 2.4%.
“With a deeper understanding of the normality, we are able to advocate for women’s choices and not intervene unnecessarily”
I remember feeling apprehensive as I entered the woman’s home, as the environment felt so different to my usual placement in the labour ward. There were no emergency buzzers in the background, and doctors were not knocking on the door asking for an update.
Here, we were invited into the woman’s safe space; she was in charge, and we were there to support and observe. I quickly learnt from the midwives that besides intermittent monitoring, the greatest skill was not to intervene.
After setting up equipment ready for delivery, we were able to fully focus on the needs of the woman while she mobilised around her own home. Shortly after, she delivered a beautiful baby boy, with her partner and mother supporting her. It was at that moment that I realised that my practice would never be the same again.
On my way home, I felt the bubble of excitement that I had felt when embarking on my journey as a student midwife. Being able to support the family to achieve their birth choices was the reason that I wanted to become a midwife.
The term “midwife” means to be with woman, and for the first time, I had truly felt what that meant. My understanding of the physiology of birth has changed, and I have a deeper understanding of what ‘normal’ birth is.
This led me to think, are we, as students, being trained to become high-risk midwives? It is essential that we are aware of complications that may arise and how to care for women with complex needs, but we must not forget the physiological aspects of birth.
It is easy as a student to feel caught up in learning the clinical aspects of midwifery care. I often feel that during my shifts, I am completing tasks as if they are a checklist, but sometimes, we need to tune into our intuition and use our knowledge of the physiology of pregnancy and birth to guide us.
With a deeper understanding of the normality, we are able to advocate for women’s choices and not intervene unnecessarily.
Moving forward in my training and as I edge closer to becoming a newly qualified midwife, I will be seeking out opportunities to support low-risk pregnancies in parallel to high-risk maternity care. I may then learn new ways to offer a more physiological approach to all women and birthing people.
Carly Davis is a third-year midwifery student at London South Bank University and 2023-24 Nursing Times student editor