Making a Midwife

Hey #midweekmidwifery fam! In today’s episode we meet Dr Hazel Keedle from New South Wales! Hazel is a midwifery lecturer and researcher and is passionate about Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) and women's experiences of maternity care. P.S. sorry about the sound quality in the intro of this ep! We really enjoyed learning about Hazel’s journey into midwifery, starting as a nurse, her travels and her never-ending study journey! For more info on her research discussed in this episode, take a look at her papers linked below:

4 factors paper: https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-019-2297-4
Survey paper: https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-020-03075-8

In this episode we met Judith, a direct entry midwife from Victoria. Judith shares her journey into midwifery, her experiences along the way and some great advice for students on placement and with continuity of care experiences.

This week we meet Dr Zoe Bradfield, a Midwifery lecturer and Research Fellow based in Western Australia. Zoe shares her journey into midwifery, her career progression into research and her current role as a lecturer, researcher and work with the Australian College of Midwives. We so enjoyed hearing from Zoe about her research on midwives' experiences of being 'with woman', how this concept was understood by midwives across differing models of care and the value continuity of care brings to both women and the midwives. We also discussed the new graduate entry masters course offered through Curtin and how brilliant it will be to have such a diverse skillset in the workforce. We hope you enjoy this episode, learning more about Zoe and also the opportunities and work going on with the ACM. For our Australian student midwives, here is a link to the ACM member benefits page if you aren't already a member! https://www.midwives.org.au/membership

This episode features the wonderful Dr Rachel Reed! Rachel is a registered midwife, midwifery lecturer, podcast co-host on The Midwives' Cauldron with Katie James AND the amazing midwife behind the blog 'MidwifeThinking'. In this episode we learn more about Rachel's journey to midwifery, why having her children made her a better midwife and her take on the stages of labour we are taught at uni.
She also shares some really insightful knowledge on the rites of passage which I found so interesting! For more on this, you can check out Katie and Rachel's podcast "The Midwives' Cauldron" An episode with Jane Hardwicke Collings (https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/an-interview-with-jane-hardwicke-collings/id1523178579?i=1000489743525)

In this episode we meet Alisoun, a student from Victoria studying the dual degree. Alisoun shares her placement experiences and the cross over between the nursing and midwifery degree. It was so interesting to hear about Alisoun's perspective on nursing and midwifery placements, the benefits of nursing and also about how she processed witnessing a very upsetting event on a placement early on in the degree, where she found support and how she would now be able to stand up for women and advocate for them.

This week we hear from Sally, a midwifery student from Victoria.
Sally shares her experiences with her own births, her interesting journey to becoming a student midwife and how she copes with studying with young children (another supporter of the #3amClub woo!). Please note, in Sally's story we learn about her own experience of loss and termination for medical reasons, so please consider if this episode is right for you before listening.

Prior to studying midwifery, Sally was able to support women in refugee communities overseas with breastfeeding through an organisation called 'Nurture Project International' which provides support services. This is a passion area that Sally would like to continue and become a Lactation Consultant. We also discuss cultural safety and inclusivity and the ways in which we are so uniquely positioned as future midwives to support childbearing people and communities.

To find out more about the organisation Nurture Project International: https://nurtureprojectinternational.org

Hey #midweekmidwifery fam, here we are again with another marvellous episode! Featuring the one and only, Sheena Byrom! Sheena is well known for her work humanising birth, developing birth centres, pro-bono consultative work, multiple leadership positions and for being the co-owner of the amazing global resource 'All4Maternity' with her daughter Anna and The Practising Midwife Journal. Sheena shares so much about leadership in midwifery and the impact of positive feedback.

Please note there is an international offer at the moment for those residing outside of the UK to access both journals, online modules, podcasts, colouring sheets and other resources! Head over to All4Maternity, select plans and pricing and scroll to "International Online Membership Offer"
to check this offer out!
https://www.all4maternity.com/

In this episode we chat with Christian, a male midwife who is caring for women in remote communities in the Northern Territory. Christian shares his journey into midwifery and the experiences he faced whilst completing placements in such a fiercely female dominated profession. It was so interesting to gain some perspective from a male student and also get some insight into cultural safety practices and Christian’s research on male partner’s ability to support and empower women!

This episode features Michaela a second year student from Victoria and a peer mentor volunteer for the Australasian Birth Trauma Association - a wonderful charity to assist those suffering from birth trauma by connecting them with others who have shared experiences, resources and health professionals in their area. Michaela shares her experience of being pregnant while studying, the challenges of part-time study without midwifery/clinical units and the temptations and pressures to opt out of the direct degree into the dual. Michaela also touches on birth trauma and the importance of watching for the signs of PTSD.

This episode features a special guest, Professor Hannah Dahlen AM. If this name sounds familiar to our Australian and New Zealander listeners, it should! Hannah is a named author on our midwifery textbooks ‘Midwifery: Preparation for Practice’ and an incredibly well known midwife for her research and plethora of publications. Hannah shares her experiences in midwifery, from her first catch at the young age of 12, the system, midwifery politics, direct entry and providing practical advice for students on placement. We also touched on Hannah's research on the perineum warm compress, the effect of continuity of care, birth trauma, violence, burnout and changing workplace culture.