Being a student midwife is a challenge and requires navigation of both, academic programmes and clinical practice. Amba Morrell, a student midwife in London, points to further layers in this situation when seeing the need for changes and advocating for yourself and others.
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In 2019 I applied to study midwifery for the following year for a career change, to challenge myself and to support women. Little did I know that I would go beyond completing my studies and actually use my voice for women and birthing people who are marginalised in the maternity system. Prior to starting the degree, I admit that I was unaware of what issues were present in midwifery and maternity services not only in the United Kingdom but worldwide and only became aware once I started reading around topics related to my studies. This awakening completely changed my reasoning for wanting to become a midwife, I knew I had to help change maternity care and help create a more inclusive service. I also did not realise what opportunities this would bring me, in which I am so grateful, but alongside this there have been some challenges and a lot of personal sacrifice.
My advocating journey really started when I created my Instagram page “London’s Student Midwife”, where I would share predominantly information about the racial inequalities in the NHS maternity system to help bring awareness to this issue (Knight et al, 2022). Creating this social media platform for myself allowed me to find my voice in the birth space and led to me curating the first conference I held “The Racial Inequalities in Maternity Services”. This online conference turned out to be bigger than I anticipated, and the feedback was great; the people who attended fed back that they really learnt about the experiences of Black, Asian and Ethnic minority women and birthing people – which meant I had fulfilled the purpose of the conference. The positive feedback encouraged me to continue to bring awareness to this issue and others which I was passionate about.
My passion for creating a racially inclusive service did not stop at the conference or on social media but was brought into my lectures where I was always quick to offer my opinion on issues of race in any discussion. I do believe that this could have been misinterpreted by some of my peers as me appearing to “know it all” because this is the impression I appear to have given over the years. The truth is I don’t know it all, no one does, but I do read a lot about causes I am passionate about. What I have learnt through the three years of studying and advocating is that you cannot please everyone – which I have come to peace with, as it is for a greater cause.
During my first two years of placement there were many challenges due to the COVID19 pandemic which affected registered staff and students in various different ways. The racial disparities in healthcare were further highlighted during this time, despite always being an issue (Addelman, 2021; Wise, 2022). Speaking up when seeing care that contributes to this issue is very difficult. Scary even. This is because you never know how it will be received or what the potential repercussions may be. I was very fortunate in that in my first two years of practical placement I had great clinical support and could discuss openly experiences I had witnessed.
There was also a pressure I feel that I was expected to address every issue that was related to racial disparities, mainly by myself and occasionally by others. Some people may not realise that, despite this being an important issue to raise awareness for and help to rectify, on a personal level is very taxing. Being of mixed white and Caribbean heritage, seeing the women who are the most marginalised being similar to your family and friends carries a heavy weight and can be emotionally damaging but also motivates me to keep going with adding my contributions to aid change. Also, knowing that myself may be subject to inequitable care when it is eventually time to enter motherhood makes me feel uneasy. Despite uncomfortable feelings it has not stopped me from advocating when I feel necessary whether that be on social media, in a lecture or in placement. Nothing good comes from being comfortable all the time.
Advocating has allowed me to meet some amazing people in the birth space and this year led me to win the Student Nursing Times: Student Midwife of the Year 2023. It was such an honour to win this award and to have my contributions recognised is a great way to end my final year of university. This journey has shown me that anything can be achieved if you really put the work in and have faith in yourself. I would encourage student midwives to discover what they are passionate about in midwifery and find a way to help improve the service and always advocate for yourself whenever required, because how can we advocate for women and birthing people if we cannot advocate for ourselves? It is important to find the right support system to help you bring your career to the next level if that is something you are looking to do. I am fortunate to have great lecturers who have supported, advised and encouraged my journey in advocating for issues I am passionate about. It is not an easy journey, there has been highs and lows but the journey is worthwhile. Realising that your voice is valuable and is appreciated helps with personal and professional development and will help me achieve the career I dream of. I thoroughly believe the new generation of student midwives have the potential to change the maternity system for the better that would benefit not only women and birthing people but staff also.
References
Addelman, M. (2021) Role of systemic racism in exacerbating Covid-19 health inequalities examine. Available from: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/role-of-systemic-racism-in-exacerbating-covid-19-health-inequalities–examined/
Knight, M., Bunch, K., Patel, R., Shakespeare, J., Kotnis, R,. Kenyon, S. and Kurinzcuk, J. (2022) Core report: Lessons learned to inform maternity care from the UK and Ireland Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity 2018-20. Available from: MBRRACE-UK_Maternal_CORE_Report_2022_v10.pdf (ox.ac.uk)
Wise, J. (2022) Racial health inequality is stark and requires concerted action. Available from: https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o382
A special thank you to all my lecturers at London Southbank University and my dear friend Rachel Brackpool who is a student midwife who inspires me all the time, she is very talented and created the image to go with my article.
Amba Morrell
Student Midwife, London
July 2023