For
the last three months the Midwifery Team has hosted two midwifery students,
Roanne Camilleri and Vanesa Micallef, from the University of Malta on an Erasmus
Exchange Placement. The students have
had experience in maternity care on the antenatal, postnatal, labour Wards at
Hull Royal Infirmary together with community experience.
Roanne
and Vanesa gave a presentation to the University of Hull student midwives
comparing and contrasting differences between maternity care and midwifery
education in the UK and Malta. Student midwives in Malta study for a period of
four years and do not commence ‘hands on’ births until their third year, unlike
our students who can have supervised hands on birth experience from the first
year of study. In Malta, they do not
have the equivalent of the short programme in midwifery, for nurses. Maternity
care is mainly obstetric led with midwives having less autonomy. Cultural differences prevail too, notable was
the impact of religious belief on maternity care. Malta, being a predominantly
Roman Catholic country, prohibits termination of pregnancy, even where a fetus
has a condition which is incompatible with life. It was interesting to observe their gasps of
surprise from the University of Hull students, when they realised how living in
a non-secularised society can still have such an impact on medical ethics and
law, within maternity care.
Roanne
and Vanessa, explained that, in Malta, opiate analgesia is not given, in
labour, after the woman’s cervical dilatation reaches 6-7 centimetres to ensure
that the neonate is not compromised via transplacental opiate
transmission. They also described a breastfeeding
clinic, which is run by midwives at the main maternity unit, where women drop
in for support and help with infant feeding in the weeks following birth. They
noted that community midwifery is not practised in Malta, although a pilot
scheme is beginning, offering a schedule of home visits in the first few months
postnatallly. Consequently, homebirth is
not a feature of midwifery in Malta. However,
both of the students were able to experience a less medicalised setting for
birth including a waterbirth in the maternity unit and a homebirth, whilst
here. The Maltese students also highlighted, the much more concise form of
record keeping, used at home. No doubt many of the Hull University students,
would relish the prospect of less paperwork! The Hull midwifery students found
the presentation fascinating and it stimulated interesting discussion.
Both
Maltese students had enjoyed their visit to Hull - Roanne said “It was a great
learning experience working on the wards.
The midwives were very welcoming and friendly. They gave us constant support and
encouragement. I had the opportunity to
witness a lovely waterbirth and conduct a homebirth. Thanks to the experience I have made new
friends and have more confidence in midwifery skills. University lectures and academic staff have
done their utmost to make us feel welcome and ensure that we were having an
overall good experience”.
Vanessa
commented “I can’t believe it’s the end now, it was an amazing experience
working on all the wards. All the
midwives and lecturers were all lovely and welcoming. Everyone made sure that we had a bit of
everything, to ensure that we learnt new things. I had the opportunity to conduct a lovely
water birth which I’m sure I will never forget.
That you all who made this dream come true”.
It
was a pleasure having the students with us and we look forward to a continued
relationship between the University of Malta and the University of Hull,
sharing and learning about European midwifery.
