Hi, I’m Lola, and I am a Senior Maternity Support Worker Apprentice (the senior healthcare support worker apprenticeship on the maternity pathway). This is my first professional role in the NHS, as I previously completed Innovate and UHBW Traineeship courses at Weston College which helped me develop soft skills to start in this role.

Some of my roles and responsibilities within my apprenticeship include: 

• maternal and neonatal observations 
• catheter and cannula removal/care
• heel pick blood sample on neonates 
• breastfeeding/feeding support 
• escorting patients to various hospitals and appointments 

The list could go on and on!

I’d say my favourite part of the job is the relationships you build with the patients. When you can just give somebody that listening ear and offer that emotional support, especially postnatally at 3am when it’s needed most. It’s those little moments where you can make someone’s experience just that bit better.

Some of the main skills I have learned during my apprenticeship so far are interpersonal skills and communication skills when speaking to colleagues and patients. I have also learned technical skills within the role such as observations, taking out cannulas and catheters (very satisfying to take out), and showing empathy when working with exhausted mothers.

The traineeship I completed helped me by giving me exposure to the world of the NHS through the 6-week placement in St Michael’s Hospital, which helped me to see what was needed to be successful in this industry. I also underwent dedicated sessions to develop employability skills which helped me get the apprenticeship, as well as sessions ran by industry experts regarding health care and UHBW specifically. At the 2024 Business Awards, I won the Health, Sport & Community Partnership Award - watch my video from this below!

My tutor (Laura Trace) provided support every step of the way, with every concern I had, and helped me believe I was able to do it. My assessor (Jenny Gamlin) provided me with experience backed advice and guidance due to her own work history in the field and her knowledge of the apprenticeship itself in preparation for my transition into the apprenticeship.

I have 16 months left of my L3 SHCSW apprenticeship. Once completed, I want to move onto a degree midwifery apprenticeship programme with the view of becoming a fully qualified midwife.

To anyone who is interested in pursuing this career, I would say there will be rough patches that are exhausting and emotionally draining (a big struggle within healthcare), so just make sure you speak up and ask for support, and you’ll come out of the other side. I would also like to give a special thanks to Gareth Brock (who I started at Weston with in innovate) who I was too scared to talk to in the beginning, but has been extremely supportive, as well as Laura Trace (TRA tutor) for listening to all of my anxiety induced ramblings, and Jenny Gamlin (my assessor) who now listens to my healthcare/NHS struggles. In other words, I wouldn’t and couldn’t have done it without them!