‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers: Student midwifery outside the system

Abstract

Midwifery in Australia, and across other high-income countries with Westernised care arrangements, is reaching crisis point; an overrun, overworked, and underfunded maternity system causing traumatised and disenfranchised midwives to leave the profession in droves. However, there is also an underreported student midwife retention crisis negatively affecting the profession. Student midwives, becoming disempowered and disillusioned after facing the climate of collective trauma within the system, are leaving their studies at unprecedented rates. The literature explores a number of tangible reasons for this attrition. However, Emily Dickinson's “Hope – the thing with feathers, That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops – At all.” may be a groundbreaking protective element in the retention of student midwives not only through their studies but also for long and prosperous careers. Hope is more pervasive than resilience, more substantial than tenacity, and more empowering than any other incentives. Hope hides in the relational aspects of midwifery, in women transitioning from maidenhood to motherhood in their power. Exposure to midwifery outside the system, may help student midwives find “the thing with feathers” and reinvigorate their egalitarianism, support their professional philosophy, and ultimately retain them through their studies and beyond.