The University of Salford Midwifery Society Magazine Semester 3

I started this degree because I care so much about improving people’s
experiences of maternity care. I wouldn’t be putting myself into debt and
putting my family through the stress of the degree if I wasn’t passionate about
midwifery. But it almost seems sometimes that we care so much about the
people we are supporting that we forget to care about ourselves. University arms
us with mindfulness techniques, we have “wellness wednesdays” and there is
a counselling service that we can access, but at times there still seems to be
that same lack of compassion internally. Needing a mental health day should be
as accepted as a day off for a migraine, but it still isn’t seen that way, because
needing a mental health day means you can’t cope with your course and studies,
right?
The thing is, depression and anxiety both stop you from reaching out, they
frighten you into silence because you become convinced that your voice and
your struggles are so insignificant that nobody is going to care. But it’s going
to be our job to care, and we can’t care for others if we’re not caring about
ourselves too. It isn’t healthy for the workforce and it isn’t safe for birthing
people to have an exhausted, burned out care giver.