Being supportive, organised, calm, committed, competent, kind, dedicated, skilled, diverse, caring, flexible, passionate, understanding, co-operative, knowledgeable, a good-listener and reflective are skills that I have previously identified as being important to sculpting a good, well-rounded professional.
While watching an episode of ‘One Born Every Minute’, it became clear that these skills were indeed required for a profession in midwifery. The skills and attributes were most noticeable when the midwives were communicating with the patients.The experience of giving birth is obviously very daunting for parents – especially the mothers; many parents coming through the door are having their first experience of giving birth. This experience can be very distressing for the patients and this is something which is neither healthy nor comforting while giving birth. This is when the midwives are to be calm and supportive to the patient and when all of the above skills come in to action.
It could be argued that the midwives were being unprofessional while in the staff room – dancing and singing around the room. Would this be a fair comment to make? Personally I would disagree. As one of the ladies said it is a very stressful environment to be working in and being able to let their hair down and have a laugh with fellow staff members gives them the chance to unwind. Having this relationship with your colleagues also ensures that you are building positive relationships with one another which can be extremely beneficial in their working environment.
Dress code is something which is very important while being a midwife. While on duty they have to wear overalls which ensure that they are clean and hygienic and – as far as possible – not carrying any germs into the establishment. It also makes them easily identified by patients and presents them in a professional manner.
If I were to develop a degree for student midwives I would implement the following learning methods:
Lectures – having this as a requirement would ensure that the student midwives were committed to their learning. This would also give them an opportunity to communicate with fellow midwives and allow them to share their ideas. The lectures would be heavily based on what it takes to become a professional. These would also be used to deliver brief background information to the students.
Background reading – after attending the lectures the students could then go back and further research what has been discussed in the lecture. This will ensure that they are gaining a well-rounded knowledge of their chosen career.
Practical skill – role play – Midwifery is a very serious career and deals with people’s lives. This being the case, I feel it would be beneficial for students to be given lifelike scenarios and work in groups to come to the best solutions. This would prepare them for some of the things they might later see in the working world.
Work based learning – Although they would gain some of their experience from role play working this would be no-where near enough to prepare them for what it would be like when they go in to the work force. Allowing them to go out on placement and shadow qualified practitioners would give them the experience they need, build their confidence and secure/put in to practice the knowledge that they have gained from their own learning.
By watching this episode of One Born Every Minute I have realised that there are countless other skills which make someone a professional. Being comforting and re-assuring are two of the skills that were most noticeable in the midwifery unit. These are skills that I have never really thought about in becoming a teacher but are ones which without a doubt are very important. Children are continuously being presented by knowledge and ideas that they will not have come across before. This can be a scary prospect for them and as their teachers we have to comfort them in their new challenges and re-assure them in their attempts to understand. It is also clear that professional skills are something which are continuously developing while being faced with new situations each day – one skill born every minute.
