Are you a student undertaking a pre-registration midwifery programme? If so, the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust has something special to offer you.  In the final year of their programme, many students are now provided with opportunities to undertake an elective visit. This presents a number of exciting options which can help to broaden perspectives and increase awareness of maternal and child health issues in other cultures and in other countries. However, most students receive limited bursaries or student grants which rarely cover such additional expenses. In recognition of the importance of this opportunity and the limited resources available, the Trust offers awards exclusively for this purpose. We hope that the awards will go some way to supporting students to extend their horizons and their experience of a range of cultural practices.

 

This year a Student Award enabled Catherine Ricklesford to travel to the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. She said: I undertook my elective placement in Stockholm for professional and personal reasons. Professionally, I wanted to learn more about the implementation of the public health agenda in Sweden and to learn the care practices with regards to the initiation of breastfeeding and supporting its protraction. I fulfilled these learning objectives very comprehensively and I also learnt so much more besides. Personally, it was an opportunity to live independently as I have never had this. Overall, I had a very interesting, educational and life-enriching placement in Stockholm. I feel I have grown in strength and confidence as a result [and] I would like to thank my sponsors. the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust.   See Catherine's report of her trip here.   In 2007 we assisted Lisa Common to travel to Zambia. She said:  I will be eternally grateful to the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust for supporting me to undertake this placement. Look at me, I’ve backpacked around Africa, I’ve shared guest houses with cockroaches, I’ve eaten weird and wonderful food, I’ve helped to birth a baby in Zambia, I’ve helped to build a roof for an elderly woman, I’ve washed orphans clothes, I’ve watched boys play football and taught kids to play frisbee, I’ve taught pre-school children how to sing ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ and I’ve seen the Victoria Falls and camped in a National Park with elephants, lions and hyenas. I have just started my third year as a student midwife and I feel that my life is ahead of me with so many possibilities. This trip has helped me to believe in myself and recognise that I am strong and resourceful and can do almost anything. I feel connected to Zambia forever and am sure that I will return when I am qualified to help develop their health service, perhaps by helping to train TBA’s to provide good, safe care to women. See Lisa's report of her trip here.   Anna Byrom received a student bursary to visit to a Christian Medical College in the Punjab, India. This is how she describes her experience: My elective midwifery visit to India has given me so much more than I ever hoped for in terms of my personal, professional and spiritual learning. I went with very specific objectives mainly concerned with making a comparison of maternity services and gaining insight into Indian culture. However, although these objectives were met, I feel the most valuable lessons I have brought back to the U.K. are that India is a magical, exciting place filled with an interesting and heterogeneous population from extremely diverse backgrounds and beliefs. My experiences have reinforced the importance of encouraging individualised care; empowering women to tell their own stories, for each one will be so different. My most influential insights were associated with my integration into Indian life by living and working with Indian people and through my practical experiences in the hospital. The whole journey, from first arranging the visit, to working in a different hospital and living within a different culture has been an immense and satisfying learning curve. I feel it is something all students/midwives should consider. My gratitude goes out to the Iolanthe for funding my elective visit, it was unforgettable.   Barbara Wickert received a student bursary to fund her elective placement at St James’s Hospital, Leeds. She wrote: For my elective I chose to visit St James's Hospital Leeds and spent four weeks there. Working with and observing the midwives in a much larger unit that the one where I am training gave me opportunities to witness practice rarely seen on the Isle of Wight. Working within this setting was a valuable experience and I was able to bring home some ideas which will improve my practice. As a result of my visit I now feel more able to counsel and support women and their families where a pregnancy is terminated because of a fetal abnormality. I had the opportunity to work with women from different ethnic backgrounds and to observe the difficulties posed by extreme language barriers. Overall this placement gave me great insight into midwifery care on a grander and wider scale. I feel it has vastly improved my performance and competence as a senior student midwife, soon to qualify with experiences to offer and teach. I would like to thank the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust for making this opportunity possible.   IT COULD BE YOU!

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