Jess Lancaster

My advice for people starting their midwifery career is go for it and give it all you’ve got. It will not always be easy, but it will always be worth it. The sense of pride and satisfaction I have from seeing what I am doing each day is incredible. 

My journey into midwifery... 

Before pursuing midwifery, I was working at Lancaster University in one of the student union cafes. At the time I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do as a career but had always been intrigued by a career as a midwife. My interest in the role came from a young age, I found pregnancy fascinating, and I wanted to do something where I could help make a difference. 

Although I did leave school with good GCSE’s, I had no A-Levels. Through researching opportunities in my local area, I found out about children centres in the area and approached them about volunteering opportunities. I felt this would be great starting place as it would be interesting to find out more about providing support to women and families this way. Volunteering enabled me to figure out how well suited I would be in a role with maternity. After attending training with the centre, I began volunteering within their antenatal classes for women and families, supporting midwives, health visitors and children's centre staff. In addition, I was able to support a fathers group aimed at disadvantaged families, supporting them to become more involved with their children and build relationships. This opportunity really triggered my desire to do something similar as a job – it felt so rewarding to be making that positive contribution. 

I then applied for the access to higher education course at Lancaster and Morecombe College. At this time, I was still working, but altered my shifts to accommodate my learning and volunteering on the weekend. Once this further study was complete, I then began to consider next steps available to me. Financial pressures meant that the three-year midwifery degree was not a good option for me, so I started actively looking at roles in the NHS to begin my career in midwifery care. I found the role of a Maternity Support Worker, with a particular focus in infant feeding and smoking cessation, which seemed the perfect role. This role involved making myself available near to the ultrasound department and antenatal clinics to speak to women and families who smoked or who had recently stopped smoking to provide support and referrals. Whilst undertaking this role, I was provided the opportunity to complete the smoking cessation practitioner level 2, so was able to facilitate these conversations. Within the final few months of my time in that role, the trust was approved to implement in house maternity led smoking cessation service, which enabled a direct service to those who required it. The role was a fantastic opportunity for me, and I gained so much from it! 

Whilst working as a midwifery support worker I forged close working relationships with colleagues, such as the clinical educator for maternity support workers who informed me the trust were starting to implement a midwifery apprenticeship scheme. I was really interested by this, so I filled out an application and was successful, which leads me to now, studying midwifery through a registered midwifery degree apprenticeship programme.  

What I enjoy most about midwifery... 

I am enjoying the placement element of the programme the most, I feel I learn best from practical, hands on experiences, and working with women and families brings me so much joy and satisfaction. Also it is a privilege to work alongside incredible, passionate and strong midwives and being able to learn from them is an amazing experience. But, I also enjoy the theory behind the practice, it is fascinating and the lecturers are passionate and engaging.  

What makes me proud to be a midwifery student... 

Supporting women to be empowered through information and support is such a unique and special role. Working with women and families throughout such a private and special period of their lives and be able to provide care and support and make a difference which can last a lifetime is something which makes me incredibly proud to be in my role. 

About me: 

My spare time... 

I love to swim; I try to swim 3-4 times per week. It helps me to relax and unwind. I also enjoy reading and spending time with my friends and family. 

My favourite TV series... 

Friends! 

My favourite book... 

Me before you.  

My feel good song... 

Roar by Katy Perry. 

My passions... 

I feel most passionately about empowering all women, this translates well to midwifery. I have endometriosis and I am a member of my local Endometriosis UK group and feel passionately about supporting and empowering others to feel strong and confident! 

Looking after my mental health... 

I like a good routine and having manageable aims for each week. Swimming is a great outlet for me and really supports me to unwind after a long day. However, if I know I have a busy week ahead and I know I may not have as much time to swim, I set myself manageable goals such as going once or twice, rather than the usual 3-4 times. I feel like being realistic helps me to feel satisfied rather than disappointed if I don’t meet unrealistic goals.  

Mindfulness and meditation also support my mental wellbeing. Taking small breaks out of the day to breath and ground myself when I’m feeling overwhelmed can make things seem a little more manageable.  

Journaling and writing lists are also things which support my mental wellbeing. Five minutes of journaling at the end of each day really helps to put the day into perspective. There are days where I’ve felt ‘gosh, that was a really difficult day’, but when I start to journal what’s happened that day I often realise ‘Actually today was pretty good, a couple of difficult things happened but it wasn’t a bad day’ and that helps me to process each day. 

My three pieces of advice for someone wanting to take a similar career path... 

My main piece of advice would be to try get some experience before beginning studying. Make sure it’s definitely what you want to do. When you begin if you feel out your depth, my advice would be to keep going, it feels scary at first, but once you find your feet it’s the most amazing job. 

Read as much as you can. I found this really helpful to me in the beginning, it helped me to understand the scope of midwives, different areas of research and to be constantly learning and developing. 

Have an open mind and get stuck in with the team. Everyone works differently and I found it really useful just getting involved. Working with different people has allowed me to see different practises and adopt little pieces here and there to develop my own style. 

My top tips for managing working/studying/ life balance... 

For me, planning is key. I have a wall calendar and a diary. Everything gets written down, lectures, deadlines, birthdays, appointments, it’s all on the calendar and in my diary. I try to plan my weeks out, on a weekend I will look at what is happening in the week ahead and schedule what needs to be done whether it’s time to study or write pieces of an essay, when I will be able to go swimming, when I will be able to see family. I plan the whole week out so that I’m not scrambling around last minute trying to squeeze things in. I’m lucky that I have a wonderful and supportive partner who has just graduated from a policing apprenticeship, so he really understands what I’m going through.