The Student Room Group

My goal is to be a midwife but...

I need to talk to people who are doing nursing and then going onto midwifery!

I know I want to become a midwife but I don't know if I should do a 3 year bachelors of nursing course and then an 18 month midwifery course or just the 3 year midwifery course??? Anyone have any ideas? I'd be really grateful :biggrin:
Reply 1
If you want to be a midwife and nothing but a midwife then why spend three years on a course that is not midwifery when there is a direct entry midwifery course these days?
Reply 2
Original post by moonkatt
If you want to be a midwife and nothing but a midwife then why spend three years on a course that is not midwifery when there is a direct entry midwifery course these days?


Midwives i have spoken to say that doing nursing makes them better midwives :smile:
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 3
The NMC regularly alter midwifery degree requirements and constantly set new standards, they strive to ensure British midwives are the best they can be and as a result are some of the best in the world, they wouldn't allow students to study direct entry if it left them at a noticeable disadvantage. Undoubtedly there are some benefits - but substantial enough to study a three year nursing degree, with the intention of not being a nurse? I doubt it, plus you would have to maintain your nursing registration which could be a pain at some trusts.

I'm going for direct entry myself, 3 year nursing training + 1 year mandatory nursing + 1/2/3/? years applying for a place on a competitive postgraduate course & then 18 month training? You'd be looking at almost 6 years if you get in first time on both courses, and an extra year per UCAS cycle for reapplying. Not for me! :smile:

Best wishes regardless though! x
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 4
Original post by Rhubarb1
I need to talk to people who are doing nursing and then going onto midwifery!

I know I want to become a midwife but I don't know if I should do a 3 year bachelors of nursing course and then an 18 month midwifery course or just the 3 year midwifery course??? Anyone have any ideas? I'd be really grateful :biggrin:


My close friend did 3 alevels and is now doing the 3 year programme. She's really enjoying it and already has helped deliver many babies.
Midwifery is VERY competitive I should warn you.
Reply 5
Original post by Pep_
The NMC regularly alter midwifery degree requirements and constantly set new standards, they strive to ensure British midwives are the best they can be and as a result are some of the best in the world, they wouldn't allow students to study direct entry if it left them at a noticeable disadvantage. Undoubtedly there are some benefits - but substantial enough to study a three year nursing degree, with the intention of not being a nurse? I doubt it, plus you would have to maintain your nursing registration which could be a pain at some trusts.

I'm going for direct entry myself, 3 year nursing training + 1 year mandatory nursing + 1/2/3/? years applying for a place on a competitive postgraduate course & then 18 month training? You'd be looking at almost 6 years if you get in first time on both courses, and an extra year per UCAS cycle for reapplying. Not for me! :smile:

Best wishes regardless though! x


Thankyou this is very helpful :smile: its really made me think about how long I want to be in education for, much appreciated!

Original post by Luxray
My close friend did 3 alevels and is now doing the 3 year programme. She's really enjoying it and already has helped deliver many babies.
Midwifery is VERY competitive I should warn you.


Which alevels did she take?
Oooh I know! :P
if you want to be a midwife then do it because if your not doing something you truly want then you may end up regretful and drop out, thus (as pointed out above with the longer route too) wasting valuable baby delivering time. your constantly learning in your midwifery career, being sent to different courses and refreshing your training so youl be a competent midwife anyway and youl know everything relevant to the job. the only advantage of doing nursing before is that you have more directions to go in but as before if you want to be a midwife then the path is pretty clear.
Reply 7
Original post by sweetiepie
if you want to be a midwife then do it because if your not doing something you truly want then you may end up regretful and drop out, thus (as pointed out above with the longer route too) wasting valuable baby delivering time. your constantly learning in your midwifery career, being sent to different courses and refreshing your training so youl be a competent midwife anyway and youl know everything relevant to the job. the only advantage of doing nursing before is that you have more directions to go in but as before if you want to be a midwife then the path is pretty clear.


To be honest the real reason I was thinking about doing the nursing was because my end goal is to move to America and be a midwife over there. This involves doing the nursing then moving and doing a masters in midwifery...
Reply 8
Original post by Rhubarb1
Thankyou this is very helpful :smile: its really made me think about how long I want to be in education for, much appreciated!



Which alevels did she take?
Oooh I know! :P


She took psychology, sociology and some sort of applied biology.
Don't let the competitiveness put you off!
Reply 10
Original post by Rhubarb1
To be honest the real reason I was thinking about doing the nursing was because my end goal is to move to America and be a midwife over there. This involves doing the nursing then moving and doing a masters in midwifery...


Then you know what you need to do. Good luck.
Reply 11
Original post by Luxray
She took psychology, sociology and some sort of applied biology.


Ahh thanks :smile:

Original post by bananacake14
Don't let the competitiveness put you off!


I'm not haha :tongue:

Original post by Thorax
Then you know what you need to do. Good luck.


thanks :smile:
Original post by Rhubarb1
To be honest the real reason I was thinking about doing the nursing was because my end goal is to move to America and be a midwife over there. This involves doing the nursing then moving and doing a masters in midwifery...



hmm i suppose that's different i guess and nursing is a lot less competitive, good luck though
i would suspect those Midwives who say that being a nurse first made them better Madwives also had severa lyears of post reg experience before starting their midwifery course ... certainly some Direct entry midwives do appear to struggle with anything other than 'normal' pregnancy and birth...

Quick Reply

Latest