Heartbeat: Maternity welcomes international midwives from shores afar
February 23, 2023
Building up our workforce through recruitment, education and training has been one of the key focuses within our maternity department over the past year.
And earlier this month, a celebration event was held for international midwives who’ve joined the team and have since gained Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) registration, thanks to their hard work and commitment.
The programme will eventually see a total of 20 midwives joining us, as Jade Hellier, Deputy Head of Midwifery, who is leading the drive explained: “This has been an excellent way in recruiting into the profession, which can sometimes be difficult to do.
“As we know there is a national shortage of midwives and by developing a robust training programme for international midwives, we are able to build up our workforce with candidates who are enthusiastic and keen to join us.
“They are qualified in their own country, but they have to go through a training process to ensure they can practice in the UK and gain entry to the NMC professional register.” Jade has worked with the midwifery education team to come up with a learning package which has so far produced a 100 per cent pass rate.
The midwives start at band 4 level and have to sit a number of tests, including an English exam and what is known as an OSCE – a competency test, before progressing to band 5 once they pass all required exams. The midwifery team then support the midwives through a competency package to aid their progression to band 6 over a 12-18 month period.
On arrival to the UK the education team support the midwives with 23 hours of study each week, broken down into 7.5 hours structured teaching, and 7.5 hours of self-directed study each week. They also spend three days in a clinical area shadowing a midwife.
Sarah Ifoga, one of the midwives, said: “I came to the UK in June last year. I’ve always wanted to work with an organisation that prioritises patient care in order to give them better experiences. I did my research and found this Trust was the best place to be for this, so I’m thrilled to be here.
“I’ve been developing well here and I’m happy with the level of exposure to practice. It’s helping me build my confidence and professional skills.”
Jade added: “It’s a really intensive programme but we have already seen great results. Five midwives who joined us in May have now qualified, whilst nine came to us in November and are working towards the same goal. We will have a further six joining us to make up the 20 places in late January.
“Each individual has shown true dedication and commitment to the role and we are honoured to have them within our team.”
Jade continued: “Our success hasn’t gone unnoticed and we have shared our learning package with the Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) which brings together midwifery colleagues from across the neighbouring Trusts.”