University's midwives in television spotlight

UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

Midwifery students from Birmingham City University will make their television debut next week as part of a BBC documentary following the day-to-day working lives of midwives in Britain.

The Midwives - a six-part documentary for BBC 2 - is a moving, revealing and heart-warming look at the work of midwives. The series shows their extraordinary responsibility and the difficult situations and decisions they face every day, from the frontline of one of the busiest delivery units in the country, to helping women get through their high-risk pregnancies; from protecting babies once they go home, to learning to become a midwife.

Next Monday's episode (Monday 23 September) will follow three student midwives from Birmingham City University as they gain hands-on experience at Birmingham Women's Hospital.

First year student Rebecca is following in the footsteps of her mum and grandmother who were both midwives. The episode follows her during her first placement where she gets to grips with the basics. Meanwhile third year student Melissa is on her final work placement carrying out supervised home visits with community midwives in an urban district of Birmingham.

Louise Toner, Associate Dean at Birmingham City University's Faculty of Health said: "We are very pleased with the series so far and in particular the episode devoted to our student midwives. It shows the reality of being a student gaining experience in a specialist hospital, the close partnership that exists between the Faculty and Birmingham Women's Hospital and in particular the role of practice-based mentors who provide the essential support for students during their placement experiences."

See The Midwives on Mondays on BBC 2 at 9pm.

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