"The grace of a fulfilled dream is phenomenal." There is great wisdom in these words by Lailah Gifty Akita, as nothing is more gracefully fulfilling, than finally seeing the light of when your baby is born. To be a part of this process and provide the competent care that is essential during pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period would be an honourable job in itself. Midwifery has been a field that I have longed to pursue a career in, coming from a large family my fascination with pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period, started at a very young age which has now developed into me passionately aspiring to pursue the career. The step into parenthood may be terrifying for many, through my previous experiences in working in a Health and Social Care environment such as during my youth work and working in a nursery, I am able to deliver the same level of individual care to every mother, baby and family.

I have been involved with the procedures of child birth, as I was lucky enough to be present for the birth process of my younger three sisters. I experienced first-hand what a midwife can do for women and their families during such a crucial stage of their lives such as; the intensive care that is provided to the mother to ensure the mother, baby and also the families well-being even after labour ranging from, antenatal education all the way to the postpartum stage and the support given to families with specific crucial details such as how to breast-feed. I have picked up on a lot of the approaches the midwives had towards delivering the care correctly to my parents such as transposing complex and technical information into a format that my parents would be able to understand. I have applied similar methods during my work experience at St. Basils Youth Centre and Small Heath Youth Centre in which I delivered a sexual heath workshop called 'umbrella' to present methods to the youth to promote protected sex. This has been the greatest learning curve for me, as I learnt how to work with young people and teenage pregnancy issues such as financial issues and domestic abuse, I have learnt that this does not only happen in teenage pregnancy, but is also common in adult pregnancy. This will be helpful for me when studying the course Midwifery as I am well prepared for the high risk and low risk births that I expect to come across during my clinical placements.

I have previously studied Health and Social Care level 2, in which I learnt how to interact with the public and how the NHS works to maintain privacy and dignity. This led to me realise that I have a personality best suited for Midwifery as I can maintain confidentiality and be a responsible and accountable professional. My current job in retail has allowed me to gain skills such as, modifying my behaviour to suit different situations and behave accordingly; this is a transferable skill to midwifery as there may be complications during birth which require instant attention and detection to help resolve the issue immediately in a collected manner. Academically, I would relish the prospect of writing well-researched essays as I am an English literature student and love to write poems and short stories. I would also enjoy the practical aspect of clinical based placements and practical assessments at University as I have the balance of being a hands-on learner as well as being a well-written learner.

I am a dedicated independent individual and I rely on positivity and optimism to excel in life. My talents include singing, song writing, and dance. I have worked with many businesses such as youth centres and nurseries this boosted my social interaction skills, which will be convenient when I am talking to families and advising them on the different agencies that are there to support them throughout the pregnancy I perform at my school events and have received awards to celebrate my talents. I look forward to studying Midwifery and further enhancing my experiences and knowledge.