My Journey of Midwifery Through Art
Emily Watson – Third year Student Midwife University of Hertfordshire
Reflection
Hi, my name is Emily Watson, a third year Student Midwife currently studying at the University of Hertfordshire. I 
am 22 years of age and have helped 26 babies into the world so far! My passion about midwifery began when I was about ten years old. I would find myself completely fascinated by the process of pregnancy and birth, captivated on how the female body adapts, develops and grows through each trimester.
I knew I wanted to be a midwife as soon as I left school, however I was extremely disappointed to learn that I did not obtain the right requirements to pursue this. As a result, I then started a Fine Art degree at the University of Hertfordshire. A couple of months into my degree, I was lacking motivation and an interest into my artwork as it began to feel meaningless. I decided to make the final decision of quitting my degree to go back to college to complete a Nursing and Midwifery diploma, that helped me obtain a place on the Midwifery BA Hons Course at the University of Hertfordshire. As I had always loved art, and it was always an outlet, or form of therapy for me, I knew I still wanted to continue with my art as a side hobby throughout my midwifery journey.
All my pieces of artwork have been inspired by my personal experiences as a student midwife within placement and the care I have been involved with and delivered to women and their families. Each piece is a reflection of my personal relationship with the anatomic and emotional journey of pregnancy and birth. Within my practice I have also grown huge respect and admiration for the practice of hypnobirthing and home birth. I have been involved within 3 home births and every time I am inspired to create a piece of work as a result of being stunned by the beauty of labour and birth within the home environment.
I am extremely passionate about changing the perception of childbirth to the lay person, as I believe it to be of extreme importance to enable women and their families to look 
forward to the process of childbirth. I think it is a part of the midwife’s role to explore birth perception as it opens up relationships for women and their families to make more informed choices and to be in control of their own maternity journey.
I have also had the opportunity to share some of my artwork during antenatal classes and hypnobirthing courses, in which I had some really positive responses from the women as some expressed a sense of empowerment as it encouraged a ‘beautiful’ outlook on birth. I was also lucky enough to be asked to share my artwork within my Trust and there is now one of my pieces hanging up in the Birth Unit.
Within my art, I have an attachment to using butterflies as a representation of birth. Butterflies symbolise growth and change and for me personally I love the relationship between the process of pregnancy and birth and the stages of the butterfly evolution.
Unfortunately, I have had to currently ‘opt out’ of placement during this pandemic of Covid-19 and I have really struggled with the results of facing delayed qualification and being behind, however I know this was the right option for me. As a result, I have found that using my art is a way to continue to be connected to midwifery and remain inspired throughout an uncertain time.
I am so proud to be a part of the midwifery community and feel very empowered by the midwives, and women I work with and their contribution to the ideas behind my artwork.
Social media:
Facebook- Emily Watson
Instagram- emilyy_.__
