A male midwife has shared exactly why is he loves his job and how he has found it fitting into an industry that is usually associated with women. Mark Smart is a midwife on the induction ward at the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran. He is one of only a handful of male midwives in Wales and feels a great deal of pride in the work he does.
Mark had over 25 years of experience as a nurse before entering the field, but there were a number of barriers he had to face, as men were not even allowed into the profession until recently. The Sex Discrimination (Midwives) Order 1983 lifted gender restrictions within the profession but male midwives are still relatively uncommon.
Mark became a midwife in 2005 and despite being outnumbered, his gender has not stopped him from making the most of his career. He said: “I’ve got to be honest: everyone’s fantastic here. My colleagues, the management, I’m just one of the team, I’m just one of the girls. Deep down, you’re still a nurse even though you’re a midwife. You’re still a nurse and I just like the nursing side of it because you’re looking after the mum but there is also a baby to consider as well. The most rewarding thing is the job satisfaction of seeing someone coming in who is nervous, you’ve put them at their ease, you’ve had a nice, quick induction, they deliver quickly and they go home with this baby that’s absolutely perfect.
"You can have somebody who's very unwell but you've helped them. I'd like to think that I make a difference to them. You do try and smooth things over and make things easier for them and do what you can, so I like to think I'm there for them one hundred per cent."
Mark has now worked with thousands of patients over the years, with his most recent role bringing him to the induction side of midwifery patient care. The induction ward where Mark works is where people are induced for various reasons, from being unwell to being past their due date. He said: “Just to see new life coming into the world and you’ve just been a tiny little part of it and just to pick that baby up and hand them to mum. It’s fabulous. You have to be caring, very kind and empathetic. They are relying on you to get them through this. It can be quite overwhelming when the baby is born for everyone, even the midwife, it’s just absolutely amazing and never leaves you.”
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