Back to the drawing board: a mid-career change into midwifery
There’s no right time for a career change – or is there? When it comes to midwifery, a bit of life experience can go a long way.
Meet Jacqueline, Bachelor of Midwifery student
Jacqueline Hermann took the scenic route into a midwifery career. She’d been an accountant for 13 years, working long hours at a high-profile professional services firm and climbing the corporate ladder.
But even as she hit the high point of her career, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was meant to be doing something else.
"When I had my first child, I just loved being pregnant. I found the changes that were happening to me so interesting, and that’s probably where the seed for midwifery was planted," she says,
“I put it down to being clucky, but then I had another baby and the feeling never really went away.”
From pregnancy to labour to birth and beyond
In 2018, at the age of 37, Jacqueline took the leap and applied for the UTS Bachelor of Midwifery, which she started the following year. It was a big change from the world of accounting – and at first, she found it overwhelming.
I remember sitting there in my first-year anatomy and physiology subject thinking, what have I got myself into? It was like learning another language.
But as the course progressed, Jacqueline quickly found herself immersed in the study of pregnancy, birth and newborn care, both from a theoretical perspective and through hands-on learning in the UTS clinical labs where students engage with high-tech birthing simulations and roleplay scenarios with their peers.
As well as a focus on the mechanics of pregnancy and childbirth, the degree encourages students to develop an in-depth understanding of woman- and family-centred care and about the role of midwives in providing education and support beyond the birthing suite – and Jacqueline quickly found herself hooked.
“It’s not just about going, ‘Okay, yes, your baby’s healthy.’ It’s about helping women and their families navigate pregnancy and successfully transition into life as new parents and as a family, and about making sure they have the right support around them when things aren’t going quite to plan,” she says.
Getting hands-on with midwifery practice
It was during Jacqueline’s first clinical placement that things really clicked into place. These placements are a core feature of the Bachelor of Midwifery – students are assigned to a home hospital where they complete over 1000 hours of clinical practice over the course of their degree, starting in their first year of study.
They also complete at least 10 continuity of care experiences, partnering with a woman in early pregnancy and following her progress through pregnancy, birth and the post-partum period.
The placements are aligned with the UTS curriculum, giving students the chance to apply their knowledge in these different chapters of midwifery care in some of the best maternity units in Sydney and New South Wales.
Going out on placement was where I thought yes, this is the right thing for me.
“My first hospital experience was only six days – I did two days in the antenatal clinic, two days in the delivery ward and then two days on the postnatal ward – but I loved it,” Jacqueline says.
A career change with meaning
Now halfway through the second year of her studies, Jacqueline hasn’t looked back, except to call on some of the skills from her previous career – time management, reflective practice and working as part of a team – that are proving valuable in the world of midwifery.
And, while juggling full-time study with the demands of parenting two young kids can be a challenge, for Jacqueline, who was used to working long hours in an office, the trade-off feels like a good one.
“I didn’t want to sit at a computer all day – I needed my work to mean something to me,” she says.
“The real clincher was that if something was going to take me away from my family, it had to be really important and midwifery is proving to be just that.”
