My Second Master's Module: "Facilitating Complex Childbirth"

The second module of my Master's degree is another compulsory module and I am so excited. As I knew this time round that the live sessions were going to be run on a Wednesday, when I had my IPR (meeting with my manager at work), I asked for Wednesday's to be a set day off for the next year or so, in order to enable me to have the flexibility to attend the plenary sessions and join in the conversations. 

There are so many topics that aren't taught at undergraduate level studies, and I do get it, because the topic and range of topics is so broad and constantly expanding, but it's hard to accept that when knowledge can be so crucially important. So much of midwifery is taught on the job and as part of the clinical environment. Many of which is simply because of watching colleagues and mentors and learning through them. However, being able to spend time going through the most common or most important ones is really interesting.

At the moment, each week we are looking at different conditions experienced by pregnant women as a complication and how this relates to physiology, social, mental and ethical factors. I actually really like being able to explore each in more detail and although it is only at surface level, it gives me a deeper understanding then my current pre-existing knowledge. For the summative assessment, we have to pick a condition and research it in depth. Having recently started doing more triage shifts in my workplace I can recognise how I can apply this new knowledge going forward and ensure that I recognise the need to escalate sooner. 

One of the first week's is based on cardiac problems. This is the number one cause of maternal deaths in the United Kingdom, as repeatedly documented and shown by the MBRRACE reports, yet at undergraduate level, I never learnt about it. I will be interested to see how the discussions on the topic lead the conversation.