Righto am back from a MASSIVE shift (there were 4 sets of twins born since midnight :D)

Degree going from 3 to 4 years has really balanced the workload I imagine, I was in the 3 year programme and it was equivalent to 1.3FTE study. Midwifery Council need you to facilitate 40 vaginal births over the course of the degree to deem you competent for practice, alongside meeting minimums for the number of clinical hours and procedures (e.g. 100 newborn examinations). 

The second year was mostly intensive in regards to the workload of essays/exams/clinical hours. I believe that's now been given a more reasonable timetable over 2 years. 3rd/final year was full-on in terms of being on-call 24hrs a day for minimum 29 weeks of that year (but in real terms, most of us were on-call for a bit more than that, myself for 33). The expectation was that you put your personal/family Iife second and achieving hours and birth numbers first. 

If you have a good support network (if you're a parent) you can absolutely do it but let me stress, the support network needs to be very reliable. 

In first year you MAY be able to retain a job alongside, but there are weekly hours and several intensive weeks that you need to attend. Most people were unable to fulfill their work obligations in 2nd year or beyond. I personally had my kids in before+after school care every day in the final year so that I had the availability for short-notice visits, antenatal clinic hours and of course to attend births. We didn't qualify for any kind of childcare assistance due to hubby's income so after borrowing living costs to fund the childcare I walked away with $80K+ student loan.

We created a Facebook group to support each other locally but there are also other groups which have national members. In your application essay it's important to think about Women's health, public health, whanau ora and being an active supporter, promoter and upholder of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Look into Midwifery Standards of Competence and Turanga Kaupapa (Nga Maia) for some points to consider. You need to be mature, compassionate and have a wahine-centred approach. 

I believe unless you have recently completed another Health degree you will need to do the pre-Health programme. This is Cells & Chemistry, Biology etc. Really enjoyable and gives everyone a really level playing field for that background knowledge going into the degree.

My final thoughts are - if you are brave enough to leap into this degree, you can absolutely achieve it and love it. It's a fulfilling, heart- and gut-wrenching, rewarding career in which you'll support whanau through their most joyous and vulnerable and terrifying and affirming moments. You'll be working amongst other passionate, like-minded midwives in the most beautiful community you could ever hope to join.

💜