Andrea Thomas - Midwifery

Andrea, 33years, 3rd year student, originally from Switzerland now living in Mynytho.

A day in the life of a Student on Community Placement

I arrive at the community base and meet up with my mentor and the rest of the community team.  I call the hospital for discharges of the women from the evening before to add to the visits that day.  The daily workload in the diary for postnatal visits or women that require an antenatal checks are allocated to the midwives working that day.  Then make our way to GP’s surgery for the morning antenatal clinic. 

During the morning we greet women of various gestations attending antenatal appointments.  We check blood pressure, urine, fundal growth and listen in to the fetal heart beat as well as take any bloods required for testing and arrange scans.  We have met with about 9-10 ladies and with lunchtime already upon us we grab a cup of coffee with our quick lunch before we commence the afternoon duties.

During the afternoon some midwives in the team are allocated to the high risk clinic supporting obstetric colleagues with ladies assessed as requiring an obstetrician in the planning of her care such as twins, previous caesarean section or bleeding.  Myself and my midwife are allocated to postnatal visits. 

We go to the homes of women who have had their baby, supporting them in the care of themselves and their infant.  I check the woman’s fundal height of her uterus to ensure it is shrinking back into place, and assess her general wellbeing.  Then a top to toe check of baby to make sure it is feeding well, if it is between days 5 and 8 baby’s weight is checked and a discussion of the newborn screening tests prior to performing the test.  We get back to base and have an appointment with a woman for the first time to take a full history and make an assessment and plan of care during her pregnancy which takes about an hour.  After tis appointment it is time to put on my coat and head home for the day.