• Question: i want to work with babies, would you get more time with the babies if you were a midwife or a nurse?

    Asked by lil to Riverside Surgery, Kerry - HCA, Hampton Surgery, East Sussex CITS, CLICK Federation, Amelia - GP on 16 Jan 2019.
    • Photo: Hampton Surgery

      Hampton Surgery answered on 16 Jan 2019:

      Hi Lil,
      So I m a general nurse so I m an adult nurse but in my role in primary care I see 8 week old babies up to patients who are 100 years old. I thought I wanted to work with babies and when I qualified I worked an a ward that cared for 0-6months old who had big operations. For me I was glad I had done my general nursing as I didnt like working with the little babies and I moved away to work with adults and now I work with all age ranges. Doing my general nursing gave me the flexibility to move to wherever really.
      Kirsty
      Practice Nurse

    • Photo: Kerry Haworth

      Kerry Haworth answered on 16 Jan 2019:

      The role of a midwife can vary, you look after the pregnant lady prior to birth and after. As a midwife, the pregnant lady and unborn baby is your responsibility, after birth you take good care of the mother and baby. Depending what area of work you find yourself in will depend how much baby exposure you gain.

      You can work closely with babies as a child’s nurse, midwife, nursery nurse, social worker, child minder, nanny and lots more depending what role you would like to take in caring for babies.

      General Adult trained nurses also care for babies in clinics and health visitor roles and as Kirsty the practice nurse has explained you can find lots of opportunity through being adult trained.

    • Photo: Amelia Randle

      Amelia Randle answered on 18 Jan 2019:

      Midwives spend a lot of their of time with women who are expecting a baby rather than babies. Paediatric nurses spend their time looking after children from birth to 16 years. Health visitors work with babies and children up to the age of 4 or five when they start school. Good careers for people who want to work with babies would be Health Visitors or Neonatal Nurses who concentrate on looking after new born babies. As a GP I see quite a few babies as well as anybody else who needs my help up to the age of 102.

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