Connie Weston discusses the new ‘Switch Up’ Midwifery scheme and her role as a Lead Retention Midwife
You may have already heard the news that our Lead Retention Midwife has been crowned Star of the Month at our Trust for her contributions to the new ‘Switch Up’ scheme that she has been working on with our Communications team, to support our midwives in diversifying in their roles.
Recently, Connie and the Communications team have set up a platform for our current midwives on the opportunities called ‘Switch Up’ where midwives at our Trust can view all of the information about our opportunities to diversify and move into new midwifery departments across the organisation.
Our Lead Retention Midwife, Connie said: “We understand that people outgrow the position that they originally applied for during their time with us – if anything, we encourage this because we want to see you develop. Diversifying within midwifery is an excellent way to become a well-rounded clinician. Similar to your preceptorship, exploring the various different elements and departments within midwifery can help you broaden your knowledge and expertise - whether this be through a permanent move or a secondment opportunity, we’re happy to facilitate your career progression so that you don’t stagnate.”
People grow through the years and may sway away or towards new areas of speciality, practice and team dynamics, which is why ‘Switch Up’ offers our Midwifery colleagues the opportunities to 'switch up' their roles and move to a new team to gain important across-the-field experience, providing new adventures for our colleagues who choose to work at BWC.
Connie shares: “You have to be caring, driven and passionate – midwifery is a challenging role but so rewarding. It’s amazing how all of our departments have such an impactful role in changing our families’ lives. My role is to improve the staff experience and retention of our midwives and maternity support workers which is why we have created ‘Switch Up’ to provide expansive and exciting opportunities internally for our colleagues. It’s a life-long career and we want to cater to you in ensuring you don’t stagnate in your career.”
Our ‘Switch Up’ platform provides comprehensive knowledge on the opportunities available, including our key midwives who share inside knowledge on the various midwifery careers across our organisation from Infant Feeding Midwifery to Bereavement Midwifery. Paired with our supportive colleagues like Connie and our Professional Midwifery Advocates (our experienced mentors on hand to support our midwives), our colleagues can pave their way towards a successful career in supporting our families, mothers and birthing people.
Connie said: “Everyone calls our colleagues a work family and that really is the case. Being able to draw on each other’s experiences and knowledge makes us stronger – we have a wealth of midwives who have been with us for years who can pull you through challenging times. It’s definitely a life-long profession where you can be continuously nurture at whatever level you join us at.”
If you like what we have to offer and think that you would be a drive, compassionate and caring addition to our team, book onto our next open day.
You can book to attend our next open day on Saturday 18 March