'A rewarding and joyful career': HSE steps up midwifery recruitment campaign

Wed, 05 May, 2021 - 06:30

The HSE is recruiting midwives, and has called on people to consider training in one of the specialist roles now available in public hospitals.

Irish health services and midwives around the world are marking “International Day of the Midwife” today.

Director of midwifery for the HSE National Women and Infants Health Programme, Angela Dunne, said midwifery is a “rewarding and joyful career”.

She said: ““While many midwives start their career as a nurse and then chose the path of midwifery, students starting off today can specialise from the start and choose to study and train as a midwife.

The HSE needs more midwives and there are a range of courses and job opportunities available in hospitals and communities across the country.

Ms Dunne said midwifery services in Ireland are increasingly moving from the hospital to the community.

Training is available in areas like gynaecology, neonatal, theatre, and home births with careers in clinical areas, management, research, and education as options.

At Waterford University Hospital, Victoria Byrne is the clinical midwifery manager for the domino and homebirth team.

The schemes are available for women classed as “low-risk pregnancies” with support offered by the midwives at ante-natal, birth, and postnatal stages.

“It’s a massive role becoming a midwife,” she said.

You are an independent practitioner and it’s the most privileged job you could ever have.

Ms Byrne urged anyone interested in pregnancy and birth to look at options including perinatal mental health, neonatal care, and diabetes.

She said: “It is extremely rewarding, it is a very passionate job and you are extremely lucky to be part of it, to be part of the new-born’s world with their mum and dad. It’s a vocation for me and a lot of my colleagues here.”

Director of Midwifery at the hospital Paula Curtin said the funding is there now to meet increasing demand and recruit more midwives.

She said: “We have plans to expand in the coming months, the demand is there for home-births and we try to offer early transfer home as well.” Ms Curtain said they are looking at external recruitment but also at attracting midwives from the hospital who wish to work more in the community.

“Covid make you look very quickly at where you could reach out more in the community, just to avoid the footfall and that. So in a way it was a positive thing for the service,” she said.

And Ms Byrne said they are also expanding outside the hospital.

Currently, there are two clinics in Waterford city and one in Dungarvan, but they hope to open in Ferrybank and New Ross in the next year.

“Women will have more choices; to come into the hospital or stay out in the clinic,” she said.

Ms Bryne said wearing PPE was challenging at first, but more than a year into the pandemic she feels both staff and patients are more used to this.

UHW began letting partners back into the anomaly scans in April, Ms Curtin said and they expand visiting hours when it is considered safe. The maternity unit is co-located with the main hospital.

Ms Bryne said they would typically book 20 women every month for the Domino service and last year they supported 10 home births.

There was a sudden increase in interest in homebirths during the pandemic, she said but due to the short lead-in time many women were unable to avail of the service.

“There was a fear factor as well. If they really want the home-birth, they will get it, but sometimes in the interview we found out it was a different problem and were able to put a different care-plan in place,” she said.

Internationally, the theme for May 5 as laid out by the International Confederation of Midwives is: “Follow the Data: Invest in Midwives.”

In Ireland, the challenges facing midwifery will also be discussed at the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation annual general meeting this week.

Motions calling for implementation of the National Maternity Strategy and the appointment of a chief midwifery officer will be discussed.

The AGM will also hear a call from midwives to improve “the care for new and expectant mothers and their children and promote safer births in Ireland”.

Separately, the HSE has launched a new perinatal mental health programme in Dublin, Wicklow, and Kildare called “Her Shoes”.

The programme is a partnership with Limerick Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service and other agencies.

Limerick woman Michelle Daly said: “This project has been so close to my heart because I know first-hand some of the stigma around maternal mental health and if it helps even one new mum or mum to cope and to ask for help it is worth any effort.”

The mother of two said trying to give a picture-perfect image of motherhood to those around a new mother can be draining.

She said: “I guess you could say I am one of those extroverted introverts who seems to have it all under control but in reality I found myself despairing and anxious.

"So for me raising the profile of services and removing the stigma around maternal mental health and post-partum depression is really important.

Her Shoes was initiated by a local inter-agency group in Kildare West Wicklow to improve mental health outcomes for local women, and developed in partnership with Limerick Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service and the Coombe Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service as well as national agencies.