Our students

Jenivy: I think a good nurse is anyone who's willing to progress themselves. Nobody is born with any one ability to be a nurse. But if you're open and you're willing to learn and be more empathetic, then you can be an amazing nurse.

Finbar: They have to be very personable. I feel that it is a very person-centred job. And you need to make those connections with not just the patient but the families as well because they need to be reassured that their loved ones are being looked after.

Marijana: Someone who cares for others, who has a lot of empathy, and has a really good insight on different social backgrounds.  Because that means that they’re non-judgemental and they're really understanding.

Tania: They really care for the health of people and the wellbeing of people. Just someone that loves to be around different types of people. Loves to learn about different cultures and loves health.

Katherine: I think a person that genuinely cares about other people's wellbeing.

Marty Jr: Someone that has a lot of empathy. Someone that can actually put themselves in another person's shoes.

UTS Midwifery Students: Inspiring Future Midwives Video Transcript

Deborah: Midwifery is really a journey for students who want to work with women through their childbearing continuum - pre pregnancy, pregnancy, labour, birth and early parenting up to about six weeks of the age of the baby.

Jacqueline: There's many qualities and characteristics that make a good midwife and everybody will bring something different to the table.

Josey: I think you've got to have empathy. I think you've got to listen and be open to women.

Hannah: Some of the qualities that are really important, and being able to be genuine and authentic in each interaction that you have with a woman.

Sarah: And be able to really make those human connections with people because as midwives you're you know, often in the public system, you're thrown into meeting a woman for the first time and having that empathy on a human level is really, really important.

Tamara: I think that a good midwife needs qualities of compassion and patience. Birth doesn't come quickly or easily. And these two qualities are essential when you're providing safe and good midwifery care.

Jacqueline: You need to be able to acknowledge that the woman is at the centre of the care and that it's her values and beliefs that really need to be respected.

Sarah: I think another quality is that, interest for learning as well, because the way we practice midwifery is changing, women are changing, we're changing as a society. So I think as midwives, it's really important that we respond through attending research seminars and things like that.

Zali: One of the biggest things someone told me was that women that you care for, they may not remember your name, but they will always remember the care that you gave them.

Josey: One thing that I find really warms my heart is when you can see that a woman is either struggling with something or perhaps something as simple as she is in labour and, you know, she hasn't had a sip of water for a while. And just finding her water bottle, bringing it over to her, asking her, would you like some water? And she says, 'Yes. Oh, my gosh, I hadn't even thought to drink water. This is exactly what I need.' And those really little moments of genuinely feeling like you're helping and the other person's getting something out of it as well as you.

Zali: I think the most rewarding is once the baby placed on her mum's chest, you get this just warmth and you never forget your first birth. You never forget your 10th 20th birth. It's a feeling that you just it's an amazing feeling. You get to see mums being born as well as babies and family units getting born every single day. And it's such a rewarding feeling. It's just, it's something that you can't replace.

Deborah: It's a great privilege to witness the birth of a baby and to walk beside women in their journey to becoming parents. So it's very rewarding as a student and as a career.