Working in the hospital

Ien van der Woerdt is a clinical midwife at the Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis (children's hospital) in Utrecht. Previously she also substituted in solo and group practices as well as a partnership. All these different experiences come in handy in her current work.

As a student-nurse Ien van der Woerdt enjoyed working in the delivery ward, and so she started the midwifery programme after completing her nursing degree. In 1989 she graduated from the Heerlen Midwifery School (now AVMU). From 1990 to 1997 she worked in various places, including solo practices and in a partnership with two colleagues. Eventually she switched to secondary midwifery care: "I wanted to extend my knowledge and activities. And I thought would be fun to work with pregnant women who are treated by a gynaecologist and have their babies ‘under surveillance'. It's a different way of being involved in the profession altogether. But at the same time I also liked working as part of a bigger team."

In primary practice you often have to be up and working at any time of the day or night, but hospitals are different. "We work in eight-hour shifts. You get to experience all shifts: evening, day and night. In the event of a delivery I work closely together with a gynaecologist trainee, the ward nurse and a fellow midwife, and there is the gynaecologist who has ‘backup duty'. You work independently, but do many things in consultation with others." Her previous experiences come in useful. "I learned a great deal elsewhere and can use that knowledge to give the interns and residents here that little bit extra. It enriches my work here."