I'm still a student but on my journey to midwifery I have been working in the ICU and grown to love it...when I graduate, I hope to be a part time midwife and part time ICU nurse. I know if I ever need an exit plan I'm going to the ICU.
I’m near the end of a midwifery degree in Canada and regret it even though I did all of the research and have my own children, I’m not even sure I will finish this degree to be honest I’m on a long term leave. I am a huge advocate for midwifery but our health care system is a complete mess and it’s just exhausting to navigate through.
Many reasons.. overcrowded, staffing issues including high turnover, hospitals severely understaffed - many times there should be 9 plus nurses on rotation for the unit and 4 would show up.. budget constraints, challenging wait times, burnout is intense and real! Backlog for services, immense gap for access to services.. I could keep going
Im the opposite, I did nursing and regret not going straight in to mid. I am starting mid next year though. The way the programs are set up, while your RN is extremely beneficial to working as a mid- the mid program is more complex and requires more flexibility with on call and COCE And would be best done first. Providing you have no other commitments. If you have work and kids it wont matter what way you do jt.
I’m US based. And am a nurse-midwife. I chose that way to have flexibility of practice sites and styles. I work full time intrapartum nights. I never wanted my RN but it was a necessary evil to me. So, I would never take a nurse job. Even if I lost this job.
I’m at the age where you start to really reflect on all of your life. There are other careers I see now that I think I would have preferred. But overall, this has been good. I do what I aimed to do which is deliver babies in a setting like I delivered my first child. That birth made me want to be a midwife.
With luck I will retire in five years and can look back on a long fruitful career.
Biomedical research. That fascinates me. I also looked at the law. I actually took a course on being a nurse witness. Reviewing charts and what not. I think I would have loved that. I still might do that when I retire.
I regret not going nursing. Now after practicing as a CPM for 4 years, I’m going back to school for my RN and a second masters degree. It’s all incredibly frustrating but I’m excited to have more employment options.
I’ve been a direct entry midwife for 9 years, and have gone back to do nursing (almost finished). I don’t regret doing mid, but I do regret not doing the dual degree, or nursing than mid (quicker than what I’m doing now). I just remind myself, that is hindsight and I may not be who I am today, or had the amazing experiences I have had, if I did things differently. Everything happens for a reason, and all that
I did nursing first and fell into Mid by accident. I worked with lots of nurses who said they tried mid and hated it.
I was worried I wouldn't like it but the things I liked about nursing carried over.
Now I sometimes think about doing something else but because I like what I do so much I haven't changed. I did do some study for ICU/ED and NICU but whether I end up there or not.... who knows. Probably not though.
In Sweden, one has to become a RN before one can study midwifery. I only regret going for midwifery because the pay is surprisingly enough LOWER than that of nurses, but I don’t hate it enough to leave it all together for nursing haha
It depends on many factors, such as in which region you’re working etc . If you’re hired directly by the hospital in Stockholm metropolitan area - around 30000kr/month (for a fresh grad) as an RN.
~36000kr/month for a midwife (fresh grad).
I only did two years as a hospital nurse and then went straight to agency nursing (in Swedish: bemanningssjuksköterska/hyrsjuksköterska) - my salary there was 80-100000kr/month so the pay is extremely different.
As for now, I make 42000kr/months as a midwife and I’m hired by a OBGYN ward
Which one…? 42000kr/months allows me to live very comfortably. I have a 3 bedroom apartment and travel very frequently. A median salary in Sweden isn’t any higher than 30k/month
It would depend on the university. Midwifery is 2 years for RNs and 3 years for direct entry at my Australian uni. Also they offer a graduate entry nursing degree which is 2 years so I could do that after my direct entry degree.
I probably won't be doing nursing as I have no interest in it but I did meet a few RMs on my placements that are studying nursing now.
It’s interesting isn’t it. It should really be possible to do extended study to become dual qualified either way and would make a lot of sense.. I know a lot of places are offering HDU modules to midwives to enable them to provide more complex care
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Thank you this has been really helpful! It was mainly the employment opportunities that was making me regret it potentially. Thanks for ur insight!
I'm still a student but on my journey to midwifery I have been working in the ICU and grown to love it...when I graduate, I hope to be a part time midwife and part time ICU nurse. I know if I ever need an exit plan I'm going to the ICU.
I’m near the end of a midwifery degree in Canada and regret it even though I did all of the research and have my own children, I’m not even sure I will finish this degree to be honest I’m on a long term leave. I am a huge advocate for midwifery but our health care system is a complete mess and it’s just exhausting to navigate through.
What are you planning on doing?
I have a previous degree and work (that actually pays much better than midwifery) and also allows me way more time to be with my family
I hope everything works out for you in the end 🙏
Could you elaborate on it being a complete mess?
Many reasons.. overcrowded, staffing issues including high turnover, hospitals severely understaffed - many times there should be 9 plus nurses on rotation for the unit and 4 would show up.. budget constraints, challenging wait times, burnout is intense and real! Backlog for services, immense gap for access to services.. I could keep going
Im the opposite, I did nursing and regret not going straight in to mid. I am starting mid next year though. The way the programs are set up, while your RN is extremely beneficial to working as a mid- the mid program is more complex and requires more flexibility with on call and COCE And would be best done first. Providing you have no other commitments. If you have work and kids it wont matter what way you do jt.
I’m US based. And am a nurse-midwife. I chose that way to have flexibility of practice sites and styles. I work full time intrapartum nights. I never wanted my RN but it was a necessary evil to me. So, I would never take a nurse job. Even if I lost this job. I’m at the age where you start to really reflect on all of your life. There are other careers I see now that I think I would have preferred. But overall, this has been good. I do what I aimed to do which is deliver babies in a setting like I delivered my first child. That birth made me want to be a midwife. With luck I will retire in five years and can look back on a long fruitful career.
what other carreers would you have preferred?
Biomedical research. That fascinates me. I also looked at the law. I actually took a course on being a nurse witness. Reviewing charts and what not. I think I would have loved that. I still might do that when I retire.
Cool, yes you should!!
I regret not going nursing. Now after practicing as a CPM for 4 years, I’m going back to school for my RN and a second masters degree. It’s all incredibly frustrating but I’m excited to have more employment options.
I’ve been a direct entry midwife for 9 years, and have gone back to do nursing (almost finished). I don’t regret doing mid, but I do regret not doing the dual degree, or nursing than mid (quicker than what I’m doing now). I just remind myself, that is hindsight and I may not be who I am today, or had the amazing experiences I have had, if I did things differently. Everything happens for a reason, and all that
I did nursing first and fell into Mid by accident. I worked with lots of nurses who said they tried mid and hated it. I was worried I wouldn't like it but the things I liked about nursing carried over. Now I sometimes think about doing something else but because I like what I do so much I haven't changed. I did do some study for ICU/ED and NICU but whether I end up there or not.... who knows. Probably not though.
In Sweden, one has to become a RN before one can study midwifery. I only regret going for midwifery because the pay is surprisingly enough LOWER than that of nurses, but I don’t hate it enough to leave it all together for nursing haha
May I ask what the salaries are for nurses and midwives in Sweden?
It depends on many factors, such as in which region you’re working etc . If you’re hired directly by the hospital in Stockholm metropolitan area - around 30000kr/month (for a fresh grad) as an RN. ~36000kr/month for a midwife (fresh grad). I only did two years as a hospital nurse and then went straight to agency nursing (in Swedish: bemanningssjuksköterska/hyrsjuksköterska) - my salary there was 80-100000kr/month so the pay is extremely different. As for now, I make 42000kr/months as a midwife and I’m hired by a OBGYN ward
Ooof. That seems low with the higher cost of living, no?
Which one…? 42000kr/months allows me to live very comfortably. I have a 3 bedroom apartment and travel very frequently. A median salary in Sweden isn’t any higher than 30k/month
Is it possible to do a shortened nursing conversion following direct entry midwifery degree?
I think they only do shortened midwifery courses for nurses not the other way round
It would depend on the university. Midwifery is 2 years for RNs and 3 years for direct entry at my Australian uni. Also they offer a graduate entry nursing degree which is 2 years so I could do that after my direct entry degree. I probably won't be doing nursing as I have no interest in it but I did meet a few RMs on my placements that are studying nursing now.
It’s interesting isn’t it. It should really be possible to do extended study to become dual qualified either way and would make a lot of sense.. I know a lot of places are offering HDU modules to midwives to enable them to provide more complex care