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Meet our Programme Lead

Congratulations on getting an offer to study with us, we hope we'll get to meet you soon! In the meantime, we wanted to give you a chance to learn more about our Programme Lead, Rachel Lavelle.

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Midwifery was the only thing I’d ever wanted to do

On leaving school at 18 I worked as a secretary for four years and I was probably the world’s worst secretary… I discovered that I really enjoyed talking to people on the phone but absolutely hated typing, shorthand, all the rest of it. I found out about a course to do direct entry midwifery, and from the beginning I was absolutely convinced that’s what I wanted to do.

I loved every minute of the course and I then went straight into clinical practice as a midwife. I worked on hospital-based labour wards for a couple of years, before finishing work to have my own family.

If you can understand why something is needed, then that's half the battle

I came back into practice, worked in a variety of areas, but quickly developed a keen interest in teaching. I used to love having students work with me but I was also interested in the more clinical-style teaching I did for my colleagues.

There’s a fantastic neonatal life support course run by the Resuscitation Council, and I not only completed it but was then asked to train as an instructor. It's one of the best things I’ve ever done because it linked theory to practice so well.

We looked at why babies need resuscitation and what we can do to support them. This was exactly the type of teaching I felt was really valuable and necessary, and it also made complete sense to me.

Students have almost in essence become the people that I care for

After several more years in clinical practice, I was given the opportunity to undertake a secondment at York. From the outset I just loved it. I loved being with the students, loved answering their questions, loved the way they were thinking about practice and thinking about midwifery. So when an opportunity came to move here permanently I grasped it with both hands. I’ve never regretted it.

People often say to me: "Do you regret leaving clinical practice? Do you regret not being with the women anymore?" And yes, I do, but being with the students replaces that. They’ve almost in essence become the people that I care for, just in a different way.

We would describe the midwife as a skilled companion

I'd thought about nursing but I saw the two as completely different. Midwifery is about caring for people who are going through a normal physiological process. It’s about supporting them, standing alongside them, giving them advice, but generally you're not trying to make ill people better. It’s about a partnership with somebody as they go through a life-changing event.

I think everything we do is geared towards this professional, caring environment. Midwives have the theoretical and clinical expertise to be able to offer advice, but ultimately what they are is a companion to the people they care for in order to develop a relationship and support them through this normal physiological process.

I believe all theory has to be geared towards practice

Without a shadow of a doubt, the marriage of theory and practice is reflected in the course at York. I often say to students when they start with us that they're almost doing two degrees: the theory and the practice. In terms of workload and time, they could be seen as two separate entities, but they are absolutely connected. You can’t make sense of the theory without seeing it in practice and you can’t be in practice without having the underpinning theoretical knowledge.

So you can’t divorce them, you can’t say they are two separate degrees, they are very much intertwined and they support each other. I completely think that all the theory has to be geared towards practice, that’s the reason you’re doing the theory. Even the module we teach on the history of midwifery is absolutely related to practice because it’s essential to know where we’ve come from.

Demonstration of the Clinical Simulation Unit (CSU)

I feel incredibly committed to this course

As Programme Lead I'm responsible for the day-to-day running of the course. So that includes planning, an overview of practice and trying to ensure that placements in practice are well-supported and suitable. I spend a lot of time trying to listen to what students want from their programme and seeing if we can make changes to the course to facilitate their specific needs.

I did my masters in Service Improvement when I was still in clinical practice, which relates very much to the role I’m in now. I'm extremely proud of that. I want to be able to provide a programme that is world-class, and I think, in order to do that, I needed to have this masters.

The other thing I’m really involved with is simulation teaching in terms of obstetric emergencies. Students always rate this module very highly because it’s so practice related. They want to be confident they know what to do if an emergency starts to unfold in front of them. It’s great for building confidence, for following a process but understanding why there is the need for the process.

You can’t underestimate the value of kindness

If you asked me what the most important thing about midwifery practice was, I would say that midwives need to be experts – they need to have knowledge and expertise in everything to do with pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. But the most important thing, underpinning all of that, is kindness. That is what women want from their midwife, they want somebody who is kind. And you can’t underestimate the value, the importance or the effectiveness of kindness.

If you have any questions about midwifery at York then please feel free to get in touch. We’re always happy to discuss your course, our research or anything else you want to know about.