News and Events

Student midwives awarded Scholarships

21 January 2008

Two of our midwifery students have been awarded coveted scholarships to attend a high profile conference in June.

Student midwives Catherine Ricklesford and Amanda Jarvis-Rush from our School of Health and Social Care have won scholarships from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).

Catherine and Amanda were presented with their awards and certificates by Ann Keen MP, parliamentary under Secretary of State for Health, at the Royal College of Midwives annual awards ceremony.

The scholarships give the pair the opportunity to attend this year’s International Confederation of Midwives Conference in Glasgow.

The International Confederation of Midwives Triennial Congress is an international event where midwives from all over the world come together to informally network and share knowledge and experience. They also address the challenges, social and cultural changes the profession faces.

More than 200 people attended the sixth annual awards ceremony in London, where Catherine and Amanda were among only four students awarded the coveted grants.

The RCM’s Deputy General Secretary Louise Silverton said: “The judges loved Catherine and Amanda's enthusiasm, commitment and passion to the profession. They were selected for the grants based on their views and how they would benefit from the experience of attending the conference.

“They are the next generation of the midwifery profession and our future. We want to nurture our next generations of leaders.”

“The RCM Midwifery awards have proved to be an immensely popular event and are now firmly embedded in the calendar as one of the highlights of the midwifery year,” added Ms Silverton

In their application, Catherine and Amanda said: “We see the ICM congress as a powerful and enriching opportunity to experience. The importance of this congress is that it brings together midwives from around the globe, working together, networking and supporting each other; in doing so, strengthening the ties in an ever evolving profession.

“By attending this congress, we know we will learn a great deal from the expertise and experience, and will enhance and undoubtedly give hope to our search for employment.”

“Our vision is to give feedback to our fellow student midwives and to inspire future student midwives that one-to-one midwifery care is possible, giving them something that enables them to maintain that initial excitement about their future prospects. “

Catherine and Amanda are approaching the end of their three year BSc (Hons) Midwifery with Professional Registration degree at BU.

Catherine is planning on spending her elective 12-week midwifery placements at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which has strong links with our Academic Team of Midwifery. Amanda has already been on a placement in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

“This was a wonderful example of how students can take ownership of their education and work to ensure their future practise meets the needs of mothers,” says Professor Paul Lewis, the Associate Dean for Midwifery, Rehabilitation and Health Sciences at BU and Fellow of the RCM.

“I am immensely proud of Amanda and Catherine’s success and feel it demonstrates the excellence and commitment of the whole student midwifery body at BU.”