Hannah Elizabeth

Going through my year review I was reminded of the RCN Congress that Bea and I went to in Liverpool. I had such an amazing time and I learnt so much. One of my favourite aspects which I made some notes on was how the six Cs of Midwifery can apply to life and the important lesson was that by applying them to yourself, you provide better care to women. I can't remember who did the talk so I unfortunately can't give credit, but nevertheless, I wanted to share some of my favourite parts and own thoughts. Compassion, care, courage, communication, commitment and competence. These 6Cs can be turned to the 6 self-love Cs which will help prevent burnout. We should look after ourselves, the same way we care for women. This should be compassionately and we should remind ourselves that humans do not fail, therefore there is no shame in doing so as it is another opportunity to learn and grow. Similarly, focus on strengths and improvements, not weaknesses. Self-affirmation is not again

➕ With today being Ash Wednesday, whilst we are not all religious, it can be a useful time to reflect and forgive. ➕ There is power in forgiveness. Forgiveness does not erase the past, but looks upon it with compassion. ➕ To withhold forgiveness keeps alive emotions of hurt, anger and blame. Forgiveness has the power to heal the hurt and pain. ➕ Toxic and destructive emotions have the potential to activate immunological and inflammatory mediators, through increased stresses. ➕ Readjust your perception of forgiveness; associate it with your emotional welfare, not with letting the other person off lightly or punishing yourself.

As you probably know, I have been involved in a research project within the University of Nottingham. We have now finished the project and are eagerly awaiting publication, whilst disseminating the findings simultaneously.  This week we found out we were not only successful in our application to present at the RCM Research Conference, but when the programme was released, we also found out we were the only two students who are on the entire programme. This is an incredible success on all our parts.  In case you were interested, this is a little bit about the project and ourselves. I will keep you all updated on when and where you can read the research when it is - hopefully! - finally published, later this year.  With my interview for Student Midwife of the Year as well, March is a busy busy BUSY month for me. Stay tuned for more about the life of an incredible busy Student Midwife, trying to juggle everything.

*Please bare in mind this post has a trigger warning. It is on the topic of suicide.* 💔 This past weekend, the nation was rocked. Caroline Flack committee suicide and whilst this is not the originally scheduled post that was meant to be shared this week, it was too important not to discuss. 💔 There are 16 deaths by suicide every day in the United Kingdom. Suicide is the biggest cause of death in men under the age of 45 years old. They are unfortunately, very scary, very sad but very true statistics. 💔 1 in 5 people have thought about suicide at some time in their life. Not all people who die by suicide have mental health problems. If someone is telling you they are suicidal, treat it as a plea for help and not a cry for attention. It is important to support them in getting the right kind of support, at the right time. 💔 Today, it is important to reiterate the specialised services and help available to anyone, anytime they need it. Call your GP and ask for an emergency appo

After a couple weeks off, I am back with the cutest little story. The vlog this week is private to respect my family's wishes but I thought I would go ahead and share some of the things I did when I went down to London for the weekend. Click here if you have access to watch it! My nephew's nursery gives one of the children a bee to take home each weekend. They're suppose to take pictures with it while they do fun activities and spend the weekend together. In all honesty my little Ray was not having any of it but I had some fun. We took a trip to one of the National History Museums. I'm not a hige fan of museums in general but it was quite fun to help Bop with the quiz they offered to children. I also fell in love with the fluffy zebra-like animals! In the end, Ray was playing up so we ended up calling at McDonald's instead of a restaurant which was a little bit of a shame but nevertheless...I love a McDonald's! I feel so at home at my sister's ho

I am so incredibly excited to announce that I have been officially Shortlisted for Student Midwife of the Year. I am beyond excited to have been shortlisted for this award and I am very thankful to the opportunity. I am a little in shock to be completely honest. With so many other great candidates, I am sure it will have been a difficult decision; to be selected as one of the top nominations in the country is an incredible honour. I feel very grateful and humbled to be a part of such an exclusive group of worthy candidates. Congratulations to everyone who has been shortlisted! The category is explained as follows. This award aims to recognise an outstanding student and to celebrate the understanding and communication skills needed in this field – from clinical skills to academic achievement, as well as interpersonal skills, which underpin the treatment of this patient group and relate to their families. In essence, entrants must combine the knowledge, skills and qualities requi

👉🏻Self-belief is one of the most important gifts you can give to yourself. 👉🏻Instead of saying “I can’t”, say “I can”. Instead of saying “I won’t”, say “I will”. Instead of saying “I don’t”, say “I do”. 👉🏻Small changes can make big differences. It’s not always easy but you can do it. Have faith in yourself and results will follow. Change your “I don’t know how”, to “I will find a way”.

Do you follow me on Pinterest? Just before Christmas, my dad gave me his old phone. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with my phone (except the camera was cracked), but it had 16GB of storage and I literally had to delete photos daily! My dad's phone meant I now have double the storage, plus a non-broken camera.  Anyway, with the increased storage, I finally redownloaded my old favourite past time and I have been loving getting inspired to adult all over again!  My boyfriend has been "casually" house hunting for a year and he's in no rush to buy a house but is ready if the right one came up. Well whilst looking somewhat for him, I found my dream first home and I have been dreaming of it ever since. It's just so perfect and dreamy and I can't even tell you how excited I am to have my own house and make it my home. I'm so excited for a little two up, two down first home to live in. It will be the best to have my own space!  Persona

As part of my role as Welfare Officer on the committee of the Archery Club at the University of Nottingham, I share weekly Welfare Wednesday posts. I love writing these. I feel inspired and knowing that I can help just one person is incredibly rewarding. I thought it would be great to include the posts over on the blog! These are anything from self-love to mental health and death. Stay tuned to the upcoming weeks!

Last year I returned from a holiday with some university friends. Having been on holiday only with family or alone before, I can definitely say it’s a very different experience. Here's my thoughts of the experience back in August! To be perfectly honest, I felt very much rushed into booking the holiday and was looking forward to the idea of going with friends more than the reality. With them stressing about booking a location, they did it somewhat without me fully researching it and I wasn’t very impressed with the end result. To be fair to them, the accommodation was better than I had expected but it was filthy, small and not the all-inclusive hotel I’ve become thoroughly accustomed to. When I got on holiday, I like to relax; I don’t want to worry about cleaning, cooking and making my bed. I love fresh bedding, a new towels daily and the opportunity to have room service...my type of holiday. I am quite and independent person so I find it hard to be around people 24/7 and bein