Louise has been a research midwife for five years. She saw the post advertised and had mixed feelings initially: she wanted to branch off and do something different and move away from shifts, but was put off by the role sounding very academic. She informally visited a hospital research team and spoke to staff, which gave her more insight into the role. When Louise began the job, she had some negative responses from other midwives perhaps because they had expected her to move into a nurse coordination role or lacked understanding about what the new job involved. Louise attended some training courses in the first few weeks of the post. The new role required some adjustment and was a really massive learning curve. There was some pressure from the study sponsors around recruitment at the start, but the processes became familiar with time.

For the first six months, Louise worked two days a week in her research role and two days a week in a clinical role. It was difficult to focus on two jobs and she still had night shifts, so Louise stopped her clinical role and worked solely as a research midwife for two years. In the last 18 months, she has worked in her research role for three days and clinical role one day a week a balance which she likes. There are several reasons why Louise has combined research and clinical posts; for example, she missed aspects of the clinical role (particularly the relationships developed with patients) and wanted to maintain her clinical skills. Louise finds there is no scope to develop the same close connections with patients in research but that there is still contact. One study involves seeing participants once a year across a five year period and she finds people often remember her from the previous visit. Louise finds that clinical practices and skills are a rapidly changing field and that, even working clinically one day a week, it can be challenging to keep up. She finds it helpful that her clinical manager sends weekly emails detailing relevant information, and she attends meetings in the maternity unit as well as all the mandatory training.

Louise has worked on various studies about reproduction and childbirth as well as other health topics. Her current study consists of follow-ups with young children, and this means arranging visits with parents so a questionnaire can be completed and data collected (e.g. a saliva sample and skin prick test) which she then puts into a data management system. Louise was involved in reading and commenting on the write-up of the first study she worked on, and the findings are due to be published soon. In another study, Louise had an honorary contract at another hospital for one day a week the hospital was larger and had more research activity, which gave her an insight into conducting research at different NHS settings. For example, at the other hospital, there were many research midwives whereas Louise is the only one at her hospital. Louise’s own hospital has become more research-aware over time, and she has been involved in raising the profile of research activity and roles (including through managing a Facebook account and having a stall at a big regional event to engage with the wider public).

Having dual jobs (research and clinical midwifery) is important to Louise, and she feels strongly that they can complement one another. She uses her midwifery knowledge and skills when relating to women in the studies and hopes the findings will benefit future patients. Working clinically allows her to maintain her clinical skills and understanding of the environment, and sometimes she notices topics relevant for research and improvement. The dual roles mean that her clinical colleagues see her on the shop floor in addition to her research capacity, and she has worked hard to maintain ties in the maternity unit. Sometimes Louise sees patients in her research that she has cared for in a clinical capacity, and introduces herself by explaining that she has two jobs. She wears a uniform when working clinically but not in research, which is another aspect distinguishing her different roles for other people.

Louise is due to start working on two new research studies in the next few weeks. She is also going to start working some clinical shifts in the Early Pregnancy Unit at her hospital. She hopes to complete a leadership course later this year and take on this role, which would draw on her experiences and networking skills. Her advice to other research midwives is to have a good understanding of the wider context (e.g. the hospital department, guidelines, practices) so that they can appreciate how studies will work within this setting and impact upon it.