I finished my preceptorship going from Band 5 to Band 6 Midwife in 11 months. Preceptorships differ in different hospital trusts. I moved from the hospital I trained at to another one. I will write a blog about preceptorship and what mine entailed but this is about things I learnt from this 11 months.
1. Suturing becomes the new 40 normal deliveries
As anyone in Midwifery knows as a student a really big focus is achieving facilitating 40 normal deliveries. Some people achieve this quickly due to opportunity and some people it takes much longer. Opportunity to suture is similar. I spent my 1st 6 months on a postnatal so obviously…no suturing. Then once I rotated to delivery suite it felt like I was constantly either having instrumentals/c-sections or normal deliveries with intact perineums. All great and vital experience but no opportunity for suturing. Using models by the charity Beyond Bea really helped with my suturing technique outside of work. I also got in touch with a practice development Midwife to go through the theory on a model. As with 40 babies though, opportunity will eventually arise. Keep on top of theory and technique and when the opportunity does come you’ll be on it.
2. If you feel like a student again sometimes again…that’s normal!
Especially at the start you basically are a student Midwife and the jump to Band 5 is a big step. When I started on delivery suite I was 6 months qualified and I had never felt more like a student. Every so often in a new experience you might still feel like a student. That’s why maternity is a team. If you need help then ask and if you feel like a student that’s fine and normal.
You need to challenge yourself to develop
Preceptorship and Band 5 is a perfect time to challenge yourself. There will be gaps in experience from training. I’m still working on a lot of my gaps-never even seen a water birth! Choosing opportunities out of your comfort zone is super scary but is invaluable. Be brave and challenge yourself.
4. Moving trusts is hard but worth it!
Moving trusts from where I trained to where I did my preceptorship was a great move for me. It was definitely a harsh transition as everything was so completely different but the people were so so supportive. Moving isn’t always an option for everyone but if you are tempted but nervous I would urge you to give it a go. Preceptorship is a great time to stay for a bit and then you always have the option to move once you’re Band 6. Moving was one of my biggest challenges and definitely one of my best decisions.
5. Practicing on your own is so much fun!
Training with Midwives and studying is invaluable but having continuous assessment means practice can be quite stressful. When you’re autonomous you’ve got the support of a team but you can make your own decisions. You can build your own relationships with families where you are the lead and it can be so rewarding. Making that leap to Band 5 and Band 6 is so fun because it can mean you have more opportunities to directly impact families
Iona the Midwife runs 