Midwifery BSc(Hons)

Imogen Bobbett

"I chose midwifery as it was a long-held ambition, born out of a fascination with pregnancy and childbirth.

"I applied to five universities and was offered a place at all of them – I chose Brighton as it was the most welcoming and the friendliest. The lecturers are knowledgeable and engaging and visiting speakers add a valuable dimension.

"For my placements I have worked in a community setting, both within a core team and a low risk, case-loading team. This latter experience is one of Brighton’s strongest selling points. It not only gives an excellent insight into the continuity of carer model which fits in with the targets set in response to the Better Births report, it also gives invaluable experience of working in a team, home births and case loading.

"I have also worked within an obstetric unit, antenatal day unit, antenatal ward, delivery suite and the post-natal ward, enabling me to capture the whole neonatal experience with both low and high-risk pregnancies. Working at the Eastbourne midwifery-led unit also gave a different perspective on low risk deliveries away from the obstetric influence. I also had experience on the gynae ward, special care baby unit and theatres.

"I chose to go on an international elective to the Philippines, which was a life-changing experience, and also spent time with paramedics, the BPAS clinic, together with time alongside the safeguarding and screening midwives.

"This is an amazing course and Brighton has been a brilliant place to do it. The lecturers really care and are so supportive but it is really hard work. You can’t go into this half-hearted, but if you stick with it, it is the most fantastic career."

Amber Bathurst

"After being at the birth of my nephew, I was in awe of midwives and their role which drove me to start my midwifery journey.

"After going to the open day at the University of Brighton, I felt very welcome and knew it was the university I wanted to attend. The lecturers at the open day were very friendly and answered any questions I had.

"The most enjoyable thing I have experienced on this course is being able to assist mothers and their partners to deliver their beautiful babies into this world! This coincides with caring for them in general in all aspects of midwifery and being able to make (if only a small) difference to the care they receive.

"I also case-loaded a lady during my second year at university who was pregnant with her second baby – a special moment because I also delivered her first baby in my first year! It was lovely caring for her throughout her pregnancy where I also managed to 'catch' her second baby too and see her postnatally.

"I have been on placement at Worthing hospital where I spend most of my time on the labour ward or on the antenatal/postnatal ward. We are also able to practice in the community where we undertake clinics for women’s antenatal appointments and then see them at home with their babies for their postnatal visits. Alongside this, we have been able to work in the Special Care Baby Unit, Theatres and Gynaecology as part of our non-midwifery placements which were very interesting.

"The teaching staff have all been amazing. There are all very supportive; especially a few who I know I am able to contact if I have any concerns or questions about placement, studies, or life in general.

"My cohort is lovely – there is a mixture of characters, ages and personalities which makes classes fun and I feel able to engage in lessons and participate because they are all very supportive. I have made some lifelong friends who I will make sure I stay in contact with for as long as I can."

Danni Page

"I’ve always wanted to have a career in healthcare and midwifery was really appealing, as I was really interested in developmental science and being able to practically apply my knowledge to work.

"At the university we have a home birth and hospital simulation room. There is a dummy who can give birth and lots of pelvis that we use to visualise birth and emergencies, such as shoulder dystocia and breech birth. We get to practice with all of these before putting them into practice on placement.

"I have most enjoyed the practical placements, because you get to put your knowledge into perspective, and I love getting to work with the women and their families. There’s something so special about case-loading a lady from her first booking appointment to her delivery.

"At the start you are mainly observatory, and you are given some roles like doing the woman’s obs and then as you progress through the course, you’re given more responsibility. Placements have been great; you learn so much in a short space of time and they are brilliant for boosting your confidence.

"You get to attend home births as well and these are very special moments to be involved in. You do get a lot of experience really quickly, the more involved you want to be the more involved they will let you be. I remember I delivered the second baby I saw being birthed, it was an amazing experience and so surreal

"I’ve also been out with the ambulance service, to a substance misuse clinic, mental health clinic and to BPAS. We get to have a week on the gynae ward, special care baby unit and theatres. I was also really lucky and managed to do a placement abroad in Zambia. All these opportunities have been eye-opening and helped widen my perspective of midwifery. Most of these opportunities I had to organise myself, but they were so worthwhile. It’s a great way to look at other specialities and to see where midwifery can lead onto.

"The teaching staff have been very supportive throughout the course. I did a degree before and the contrast in the support given has been starkly different. All the staff are happy to help, and you constantly feel like you can get guidance either for a practical problem or for issues with essays.

"There are lots of different characters in our cohort and we’ve all come from different backgrounds. The age range in the course is really different, with some people coming straight from school and others starting midwifery in their 50s. We all have different outlooks and reasons for being on the course and it can be so refreshing speaking to different people and finding out how they are getting on."

Danni, kneeling at the front, with the colleagues she met on placement in Zambia

Jacqui Morris

"I wanted to study midwifery due to my own positive and negative experiences of maternity care when I had my own children.

"I chose the University of Brighton, partly due to location, but partly due to the positive experience I had when I visited on one of the open days. The staff and students that I met on the open day were very friendly and very helpful and answered all of my questions. It was my first-choice university when I applied to UCAS.

"During my training, I have spent time working with community midwives and am lucky to have delivered babies within the home setting. I have also worked on a postnatal ward and labour ward. In year two, I had experience of working on the gynae ward, in general theatres and on the special care baby unit. You have to put yourself out there to experience as much as you can during your training and its really beneficial to learning when you do that.

"The course facilities are good and the staff are very approachable and very friendly. We learn in classrooms rather than lecture theatres and have access to skills rooms and learning materials when we need them. The library is well stocked and you can pick up library books from any campus.

"It will test all your emotions over the three years, both on placement and at uni. It’s the hardest but the most rewarding thing you shall ever do."