The University of Salford Midwifery Society Magazine Semester 3

Midwifery asks so much from you, even as a student you have
the same shift pattern & workload as a qualified midwife, plus
reading, plus assignments. It’s hard and it’s necessary and we
know that. But as the next generation of midwives, maybe we
can work together to change the stigma from the inside out.
We can be compassionate towards our colleagues and we can
speak up when we hear those ignorant comments about mental
health. It feels degrading to sit in a room and listen to people talk
so negatively about mental health when you have mental health
issues yourself. The subject of your opinions can’t hear what
you’re saying, but your silently & secretly suffering colleagues
can: they can hear your negativity, your derision, your scorn,
and it isolates them, further chipping away at what little support
they felt they did have in the work place.
So in 2021, let’s actually support one another. Let’s stop
being so derivative in the staff room about other people. Let’s
flood the world with so much love and so much compassion that
mental health problems become just another illness.
I am a student midwife. I have mental health problems. I take
medication. I am not ashamed. And one day, I will be an
amazing midwife, not in spite of my mental health issues, but
because of them.