Midwife working in a hospital close to London

I am Theodora and I am a newly qualified midwife from Greece. This is my story.

I started working the last Monday. I am on the Labour Ward and I will have a year of rotation in all positions. At present, I know that I am going to spend the next 4 months on the Labour Ward and the 4 months after on the Antenatal Ward 21. The midwives here are all so kind and very willing to help and support. The maternity unit is busy, but they give you the time you need to get used to the wards.

There are many things that all foreign midwives should know as soon as arriving here. So they provide you with study days and a mentorship for 2 weeks to get used to the working pace. To be honest with you, I am not yet very confident, but I feel good. I hope in the near future I will be functioning well within the team.

The cost of living is not as high as we thought (comparing that to the Greek one). The only expensive thing is the transfers. But the accomodation is next to the hospital so you don't have to take any daily.

I wish you good luck. I hope I helped you a little bit.

Midwife in a London Hospital

The Hospital is quite an old hospital, it could not possibly compare to the modern facilities I came from in my country. The Consultant Midwife who gave me a tour around the maternity department when I had my interview, told me something, which absolutely made me want to work here. He said that it is not the facilities which makes the delivery a great, unforgetable experience for the woman, it is the midwife who makes the difference. If you have a great midwife, the labour and delivery will be great experience as well. And I just wanted to be that great midwife... So I am here and I really do not regret, it was a good choice. There is a reconstruction going on in our Maternity, some improvements have been made and some are to be made within next couple of years. I think we have a great and very friendly team, everyone has always been very supportive to me.

I also started doing some agency work so I have a chance to see other hospitals as well and I must say I am always happy to go back to my hospital. It is one of the busiest hospitals in London but also the friendliest - to employees, mums and babies... At least I think so. After my first two weeks of orientation I was based on Labour Ward - most of the days it is very hectic, but you can learn a lot there. Within my first three months I have seen and learned there more than in three years at home. It is also due to a great ethnic diversity, you meet people virtually from all around the world, things like thalasemia or FGM which we only read about in my country are your daily bread here... One senior midwife once told me that if you can work here in  at this hospital you can work anywhere - I guess that is very true. Anyway, since the beginning of March I moved to Lilac Birth Centre which is midwifery led unit for low risk women. We do waterbirth as well. It is much calmer than labour ward, although it can get very busy as well. And I just enjoy myself!

So thanks to Professional Connetions for helping me all the way through to get this job and I am more than happy to encourage others to take this step. It is really worth it.