Looking for a friend in the UK

expatnurse · Apr 25, 2005

I'm not sure how much midwifes make in the states. Here in New Orleans there are very few midwifes. The school I attend does not have a midwife program, but I heard rumors of one being started in spring 2007. Midwifes are not as common in America as they are in Europe. I had by OB clinical rotation a few months ago and I saw no midwifes deliver babies in the hospitals. The reason for this may be that to have a midwife deliver your baby you pay the cost yourself, insurance will not cover it. In the New Orleans are there are a lot of people on medicaid (health coverage for the poor) and they are not able to pay for a midwife even if they wanted one. I also think that the reason for fewer midwifes in the south is lack of knowledge about them. If you don't know about them, how can you use them? Are all babies delivered by midwifes in the UK or do physicians deliver the majority of babies? Is the cost of midwife covered by insurance or the NHS?
Have a great day. :)
Jen

Yes in the South we have very little knowledge of these issues. I had never heard of midwife until I came to the UK. Midwives deliver all normal births and some have advanced training for ex. vac deliveries. Midwives here are very indepent in there nursing practice they come out of school at F grade = to nurse in charge in the USA. It is paid for by the NHS. If the birth is not textbook ex. the midwife will call in the OBGYN. Over here they have home birth if wanted as long as the midwife feels it is ok. I had the chance to go out with the midwifes during my training. It was the most amazing expierence. I would have never considered being a midwife until then. Over here there is a completly different approach to birth it is viewed as a natural process and your body can do it!! You are treated as well not sick as in the USA model. They also offer many ways to deal with pain. Examples include waterbirth, gas and air, paiadine?? spelling , tens unit. and breathing. this is by no means a complete list. I must say if I ever have kids I will only have them here in the UK because until I went out with the midwife I had been psychologyly damaged by USA model. I didn't realize that there is a high rate of medicaide recepenting in New Orleans. It is true that alot of OBGYN are going out of business due to cost and lawsuits in USA? Also final thought pap smears are done only every 3 years over here and done by a nurse not a doctor. Furthermore once you have your baby and go home the midwife visits at home to ensure everything is going well and that you are recoving ok. You stay on the midwife books for up to 28 days post delivery next a Health Vistor comes to see you and tracks the progress of your childs development you can go see them at your primary care doctor office or they will visit you at home. They offer guideance on issues ex. baby not sleeping etc. what to try. I was very impressed with the care children receive here. I believe I have seen research that states UK has lower infant mortality rate than USA. I am still working on my assignments how are your classes going?

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Apr 26, 2005

My trust has recently taken on 6 staff nurses to do the 18 month conversion. I haven't went to go talk with them yet but the person and midwife in charge of personal didn't say anything about needing 1 year experience. If the trust would go ahead and pay for the further study without the 1 year in practice do you think I should go ahead and go for it? Or do you think I should try and get some experience behind me first. Bear in mind I can only do it if paid for therefore if I was to wait until later I may not be able to get onto it. Any advice helps. Also in your experience do a lot of nurse/midwife want a break is that why I have bumbed into alot of them who are just working as nurses now and not using there midwife part? It may be cheaper to train midwives direct entry but in your opion is it safer? look forward to hearing from you.

I believe that if you have some experience as a nurse it would benefit you in your practice as a midwife, especially when dealing with the abnormal, and in answer to your question I do believe RN/RM are better qualified as midwives. My experience as a midwife and the reason I returned to nursing was initially for a break but I wont be returning. The pressures that UK midwives are under in my trust are huge, there are never enough midwives but there are always plenty of pregnant women. You have to prioritise your work in a different manner and you cannot ever predict when a baby will be born or when things are goingto go pear shaped. I could go on for ever about the pressures in midwife and a lot of job unsatisfaction. I know lots of midwives and they are all unhappy in their job and concerned about their woman. They are all excellent practioners but they are unsupported majority of the time. When things go wrong in midwifery it can be difficult to put things behind you, in nursing you have a cardiac arrest and dont get the patient back you move on, try moving on after a 40 week baby arrests!

Midwifery is a lovely profession in an ideal world, in reality the ideal is difficult to provide.

lsunurse · Apr 27, 2005

Yes in the South we have very little knowledge of these issues. I had never heard of midwife until I came to the UK. Midwives deliver all normal births and some have advanced training for ex. vac deliveries. Midwives here are very indepent in there nursing practice they come out of school at F grade = to nurse in charge in the USA. It is paid for by the NHS. If the birth is not textbook ex. the midwife will call in the OBGYN. Over here they have home birth if wanted as long as the midwife feels it is ok. I had the chance to go out with the midwifes during my training. It was the most amazing expierence. I would have never considered being a midwife until then. Over here there is a completly different approach to birth it is viewed as a natural process and your body can do it!! You are treated as well not sick as in the USA model. They also offer many ways to deal with pain. Examples include waterbirth, gas and air, paiadine?? spelling , tens unit. and breathing. this is by no means a complete list. I must say if I ever have kids I will only have them here in the UK because until I went out with the midwife I had been psychologyly damaged by USA model. I didn't realize that there is a high rate of medicaide recepenting in New Orleans. It is true that alot of OBGYN are going out of business due to cost and lawsuits in USA? Also final thought pap smears are done only every 3 years over here and done by a nurse not a doctor. Furthermore once you have your baby and go home the midwife visits at home to ensure everything is going well and that you are recoving ok. You stay on the midwife books for up to 28 days post delivery next a Health Vistor comes to see you and tracks the progress of your childs development you can go see them at your primary care doctor office or they will visit you at home. They offer guideance on issues ex. baby not sleeping etc. what to try. I was very impressed with the care children receive here. I believe I have seen research that states UK has lower infant mortality rate than USA. I am still working on my assignments how are your classes going?

I think you should study to become a midwife as soon as you can. If you wait and take time off you may get out of the school and studying mode. I find that most people who take time off from school before they get their masters never go back. This is probably not you,because you seem very determinded to become a midwife regardless if you take time off. I will be done with my classes in two weeks and then I will be off for 3 months

Have a great day :)

Jen

Owen · May 2, 2005

Hi there to all nurses wanting to sample the british way of life, you're extremely welcome. A couple of things to consider I think; Would you consider buying a car without test driving it? I strongly recommend doing some reseach on the nhs website finding the hospitls in the areas you're interested in staying contact them and arrange a fact finding trip. Whilst on the trip you can then visit probable accomodation, find out about transport, work out the costs, get a feel for the place and then make your mind up based on your findings. Remember London is NOT the UK, it is a very unique city that has lots pros and cons, but have you considered other exciting cities that make up this country, you have Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh for a start that are all quite individual and may suit you more?? Just my two cents worth!!

letina · May 2, 2005

Hey Owen, don't forget Liverpool, recently 'crowned' the City of Culture :wink2:

Owen · May 2, 2005

Hey Owen, don't forget Liverpool, recently 'crowned' the City of Culture :wink2:

Oh yeah of course the brill city of liverpool, a bloody good night out but watch your wheels, only kidding!!

madwife2002, BSN, RN · May 3, 2005

Oh yeah of course the brill city of liverpool, a bloody good night out but watch your wheels, only kidding!!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Sorry Tina just couldnt help myself

love ya

fly-gal · May 7, 2005

Thanks for the advice Owen.

My irish husband wants to move to London as he can make tons more plastering than he can here in San Francisco (and he'll be able to visit his family more regularly). Even with the huge paycut for me (I'd probably come out making less than 2/3 of my salary here), we'd do a little better and we are both itching to leave SF.

My husband wants to move ahead of me and set up a place for us while I wait for registration but I'm thinking he should just live with friends until I get there because it's probably good for me to live closer to my work place. His work will probably take him all over the place anyway.

Well, I'm very excited about the possibilities. I lived in NE London as a 7 year old girl and absolutely loved it. Secondary school was in British schools in Hong Kong, so I feel rather more international than American (probably why I married an Irishman and feel the urge to move overseas again).

To those taking the NCLEX - GOOD LUCK!!! I took it last year - studied for about 2.5-3 weeks and passed. Whew! I had a bit of a panic as my practice test administered by my nursing school was dismal and my advisor said she "was worried about me." Well that woke me up. I basically used the Saunders guide for the background theory, then just used tons and tons of practice questions. Trying to go back into my nursing school notes/books was ridiculous. Really what you want to practice is NCLEX type questions - lots and lots of them. That will help you get the instinct for the correct type of answer because some of those questions leave you wondering...

may24 · May 26, 2005

Hi Alexis,
I haven't taken the NCLEX yet, but I do hear it is pretty rough. I recommend buying an NCLEX review book. I have Lippincott's NCLEX review book and it has questions in all areas of nursing and provides rationales for both the right and wrong answers. I also saw a website that offered a review course for foreign trained nurses who were going to take the NCLEX. I have to search around for it and get back to you, but I'm pretty sure they taught a course in England. Also if you are coming to the states before you take the NCLEX I highly recomend taking a review course called the Hurst Review. A former nurse teaches the review and everyone I know who has taken her review passed the NCLEX the first time. I don't know if she teaches the couse nation wide or just in the south. It cost $350 and you are allowed to take the couse twice before you take the NCLEX and if you don't pass the first time she will refund your money or tutor you, but like i said I don't know anyone who took this review that hasn't passed
As for nurse patient ratios all the hospitals I have done clinicals at have pretty good ratios on average 5:1 or 6:1 for the nurses who work the day shift. the nurses that work the night shift have more patients but they also get paid more, about $4-8 more an hour depending on the hospital.
I hope school isn't stessing you out too much. Write back if you want to know anything else or just to chat.
Have a great day.
Jen

I can say having passed NCLEX myself - I used Lippincott and Mosbys. I have been recommended Sandra Smith, Patricia Saunders and NCLEX 3000 or otherwise also known as Springhouse 3000. These texts and CD are meant to be really excellent. Hope this helps

lsunurse · May 27, 2005

I can say having passed NCLEX myself - I used Lippincott and Mosbys. I have been recommended Sandra Smith, Patricia Saunders and NCLEX 3000 or otherwise also known as Springhouse 3000. These texts and CD are meant to be really excellent. Hope this helps

I live in the new orleans area. Do any of these women tutor students in Louisiana?

may24 · May 31, 2005

I live in the new orleans area. Do any of these women tutor students in Louisiana?

Sorry, but I am unable to help you in that matter as I used textsbooks and did the nclex in 94 pencil/ paper version. So did not meet nor have any US tutors. But having recently looked at Saunders I liked the mini quizzes and also I was informed Kaplan questions are very much similar to the question and format asked of in NCLEX.

Hope this helps

dxchickadee · Jun 16, 2005

Can someone pls explain how I can post a new thread? Mucho thx chickadee