"My job? To listen to women in childbirth"

A young midwife who graduated a year ago, Céline is committed to providing personalized support to women who come to give birth at the maternity hospital where she works. « Each birth is unique, and each time I try to adapt to the personality of the woman and her partner, and to listen to their needs and desires », explains the midwife, who joined the maternity unit of the Beaujon Hospital in Clichy a year ago, with her diploma from the UPMC midwifery school in her pocket.

« I had no trouble finding a job, she confides. I sent a series of applications to maternity units based in Paris and the suburbs, and all of them replied positively! » Her choice settled on the Beaujon hospital, whose maternity unit she knew from internships she had done there during her studies. « The team of midwives is very close-knit and I'm delighted to be part of it. » As a midwife, Céline has an atypical work schedule: she works 12-hour shifts in the birthing room, emergency room and pathological pregnancy department, and 8-hour shifts in gynecological consultations and post-partum care. She changes assignments regularly.

« At present, I alternate day and night shifts in the delivery room. It's the aspect of my job that I prefer, because it's during childbirth that I feel the most active and experience the most emotions, » confides Céline. The young midwife was drawn to the birth room very early on, during her first internships in the maternity ward. She knew then that she had made the right choice in choosing this profession. However, when she left high school, Céline saw herself more as a doctor.

« J’ai passé à deux reprises le concours de médecine, sans succès. La deuxième année, j’ai eu la chance d’obtenir une place dans l’école de sages-femmes de la faculté de médecine Pierre et Marie Curie. » De ses quatre années d’études, Céline garde un souvenir heureux et studieux. « Les 2/3 du temps sont consacrés aux stages. La partie théorique est donc concentrée et assez dense. La première année est consacrée à la découverte de l’hôpital et des soins infirmiers. En deuxième année débute l’apprentissage de l’obstétrique. Les deux dernières années, on apprend à être autonome dans notre pratique, en consultation comme en salle de naissance. C’est une bonne formation ! »