Still need timeshares signing from 1st year and now I cannot remember who I worked with.

Frequently midwives will request you to email them and they will "do it later". However, it can be very time-consuming to have to repeatedly chase these midwives to actually sign the things requested, with many students still having outstanding signatures despite several emails and requests over the phone or in person.

We try to understand that it can be a very busy job and a midwife can not always access a computer at the end of the shift to sign this but when we try to contact them several times over weeks or months and do not receive a signature or even a response to email correspondence it feels like there is a lack of respect towards us as student midwives as it appears we are not worth the time to respond.

When asked in person it is stated that they will look at it but then still does not get signed.

Finally, it can be concerning to ask for feedback from a midwife if they are unable or willing to complete it on the day as you are then having to remind them several times to do so. resulting in worry that your feedback will not reflect the work carried out on the shift if it is left too long or could reflect annoyance if they perceive the reminders to complete this as pestering.

I think it’s very intimidating to walk onto an area as a student and have everyone ignore you or be made to feel like they can’t be bothered working with you.

I would like to add this is not all midwives and I'm fully supportive of the pressure they are under to complete their live paperwork for women dealt with but we are only asking for something which is required by the NMC.

1) PS feedback - It's really frustrating when you have a great shift and develop a great relationship with your PS and they promise some excellent feedback then don't do it. I get they are extremely busy and it's probably the last thing they feel like doing but this really boosts your confidence when the feedback is good. Certainly not expecting outstanding every time and even welcome constructive criticism but when you end up chasing timesheets, you end up not even bothering for feedback. This should not be something we have to chase or ask for it should be forthcoming as standard from PS regardless of the grading.

2) Service User - Having had a great experience with CoC from booking to delivery, I asked if she would be happy to provide feedback when she felt up to it. She messaged me the next day to say she had done me some substantial feedback and left it with the desk on CBS. That night I returned for a shift t be told 'No, there is nothing here for you' - I will not be asking the service user to repeat this so what a wasted opportunity that was to have some great feedback.

I do not think it appropriate to be asking women for feedback for doing my job, Unsolicited feedback is the best you can get and in my experience when someone is put on the spot the feedback is always going to be 'Good'. The PS feedback should be sufficient for this. I will not be asking women for feedback after birth especially as this is not appropriate.

Although postnatal seem to get the off-duty out late, they have been accommodating when I had a childcare problem, and with Spoke days.

PS feedback and getting timesheets signed is a perennial problem. I have heard from one PS that the midwives have been discussing how to manage it, too.

In terms of complements I love that Birth Suite have a new notice board with information for student midwives on it. There is general info for students as well as a list of the students there that month and their allocated area PS. This is really helpful in a practice area that can be daunting and disorientating at first (an orientation booklet would be helpful, too). I hope whoever has done it knows it has been appreciated and feels encouraged to keep going with it!

Thankfully the midwife had time to run through 3 NIPE’s with me that shifts, but I felt the day has been wasted.

In hindsight I should have contacted another unit to see if they had capacity for students so I could gain experience in other areas, so I do acknowledge I could have used my time more wisely.