Supporting the next generation

As student midwives, we all come across a real variety of cases. It is, arguably, the sole purpose of our large number of Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)-stipulated placement hours; to experience as much as possible and learn from it. However, I firmly believe that what you get from each placement is not so heavily based on the cases you come across, but is rather affected by the mentors you work with.

A good mentoring experience can make a placement. Not just from the enjoyment of it, but also from how much you get out of the experience and how much you learn from it. My first-ever placement as a student midwife was six weeks on community and I absolutely loved it! Yes, I enjoyed the clinics themselves, and even managed to witness a home birth, but I'm convinced that my enjoyment and the amount I learnt in such a relatively short time on that placement was down to my mentors.