After three years of education, a First Class Honours degree and thousands of hours on placement, newly qualified midwife Megan Lewis, from Cardiff, was ready to begin her career. But like dozens of other midwives in Wales, she has been left without a job. Here, she shares the heartbreak, frustration and uncertainty of being unable to work in the profession she loves. 

I’m not somebody who cries easily – but when I opened the email telling me I hadn’t got a job, I cried for hours. 

It was 25 June 2026, and I’d just found out that I hadn’t secured a midwifery post through the NHS Wales streamlining process. One email and suddenly everything I’d spent the last three years working towards felt like it had been taken away from me. 

It was one of the hottest days of the year and my children’s school was closed, so they were at home with me. They saw how upset I was and that was one of the hardest parts. 

My children have been my biggest supporters throughout my training. They’ve seen me work long shifts, spend weekends studying and miss out on family time. They’ve celebrated every success with me and kept me going when things got tough. I never wanted them to see their mum so heartbroken. 

I’d always imagined that finishing my midwifery degree would be one of the happiest moments of my life, but instead, I was left wondering what on earth I was going to do next. 

So now I’m thinking: three years of hard work – and for what? 

I decided to become a midwife after having my own children. The care I received during my pregnancies had such an impact on me. I had enormous respect for the midwives who looked after me and I wanted to be able to do that for other women and families. 

I enrolled at the University of South Wales and qualified in September 2026 with a First Class Honours degree. I’m now registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). I’m incredibly proud of that achievement, but getting here has taken everything. 

Midwifery isn’t an ordinary degree. There are the academic demands, of course, but also the night shifts, weekends, long placements and time away from your family. We completed 2,550 hours of clinical practice, balancing placements with university work and, for many of us, paid employment and family responsibilities. 

There were times when I was completely burnt out but I kept going because I loved what I was doing. I believed all those sacrifices would be worth it. 

And importantly, I genuinely believed there would be a job waiting for me at the end. 

When I started my degree, I remember looking forward to the day I’d log onto the streamlining system and apply for my dream job, however the process was delayed three times, supposedly to maximise opportunities. When it finally opened there were even fewer jobs than I’d expected. 

If I’m completely honest, I felt let down. The Welsh Government funded my training, and I received an NHS bursary on the condition that I worked in Wales for two years after qualifying. I was more than happy to make that commitment. Wales is my home and it’s where I want to work. 

But how can you invest in educating midwives, ask them to commit to working in Wales, and then not provide the jobs for them to do that? 

Why were so many university places funded if there weren’t going to be enough posts at the end? 

We’ve fulfilled our side of the bargain. We’ve put in the hours, made the sacrifices and qualified. Now we’re left in limbo. 

What makes the situation even harder to understand is what I witnessed during my education. 

I spent three years working alongside midwives who were doing absolutely everything they could for women and families, often under enormous pressure. 

By my third year, I was very aware of just how stretched services could be. Midwives regularly told us how much they valued having students on shift because we were another pair of hands to help with care. 

Of course, students aren’t a replacement for registered midwives but when you’ve seen how hard staff are working, how much they’re juggling and how desperately they’re trying to give every woman the time and care she deserves, it’s difficult to understand why there aren’t jobs for newly qualified midwives. 

We know maternity services are under pressure. We’ve seen it ourselves. So how can there be midwives ready and desperate to work, but no funded posts for them? It just doesn’t make sense. 

I’m fortunate that I’ve been able to return to the restaurant where I worked throughout my education. I’m now working there full-time, and I’m grateful that I have a job and can support my family. I know other newly qualified midwives haven’t been as lucky. 

But it’s a strange feeling – I’ve spent three years working towards a completely new career. I’ve graduated with a First Class Honours degree, earned my professional registration and become a qualified midwife yet I’m back doing the same job I was doing before I started university. 

I’m proud of my work in hospitality, but I didn’t put myself and my family through three years of education to end up exactly where I started. 

I’ve looked at jobs elsewhere, including in England, but moving isn’t as simple as packing a bag and going. My children are settled in school, our family and support network are in South Wales and our lives are here. 

I’ve trained in Welsh maternity services, cared for women and families in Welsh communities and committed to working for the Welsh NHS. I want to stay here and put everything I’ve learned into practice. 

It’s also not just about finding any job – I need the opportunity to begin my career properly. 

One of my biggest worries is what happens the longer I’m away from clinical practice. 

Becoming a qualified midwife is a huge achievement but qualification is only the beginning. That first Band 5 preceptorship year is so important. It’s when you consolidate everything you’ve learned, build confidence and develop into an independent practitioner, with the support of experienced colleagues. 

I think of it a bit like learning to drive. University and placements give you the lessons and the skills but it’s only once you’ve passed your test and started driving that you really build your confidence. 

That’s what preceptorship should be for newly qualified midwives. Instead, I’m sitting here with my registration, worried that the knowledge and skills I’ve worked so hard to develop will start to fade before I’ve even had the chance to use them. 

We’ve been told we can go through streamlining again in December, alongside the next cohort of graduates, and that we’ll be given priority – but what happens if there still aren’t enough jobs? What happens when another group of newly qualified midwives joins those of us already waiting? 

It feels like we’re creating a backlog of midwives who are qualified, capable and desperate to work, but have nowhere to go. 

And for the first time, I’ve started to wonder whether I’ll actually be able to stay in midwifery. That’s a horrible thought. Not because I’ve stopped loving the profession – quite the opposite. I want to be a midwife more than ever. I’m just frightened about what this delay could mean for my future. 

I don’t think we’re asking for anything unreasonable. We’re not asking for special treatment or for jobs to be handed to us without putting in the work – we’ve already done the work. 

We’ve completed our degrees, met the required standards and earned our registration. We’re ready to care for women and families. 

What we need now is for the Welsh Government, HEIW and health boards to work together and find a way to bring us into the workforce. 

Whether that’s through full-time or part-time opportunities, there needs to be a proper pathway into practice. 

There are around 63 of us still without jobs. When you think about the scale of the Welsh NHS, surely finding a way to employ those midwives shouldn’t be an impossible problem to solve? 

I know many of my friends and fellow graduates are struggling. Some have secured posts and are starting their careers, while others of us are still waiting, despite completing the same training and meeting the same standards. 

I’m pleased for those who’ve got jobs, of course I am. But it’s hard not to feel devastated that we haven’t all been given that opportunity. 

To the other newly qualified midwives in the same position, I’d say please don’t lose sight of why you wanted to do this in the first place. We’ve come too far and worked too hard to give up now. 

Getting my first midwifery post would mean absolutely everything to me. 

It would mean finally being able to put my skills into practice, start my preceptorship and build the career I’ve dreamed about. It would mean stability for my family and the chance to do something I genuinely love. 

Most of all, it would mean knowing that those three years of hard work and sacrifice had led somewhere. 

I still believe our time will come. We just need the opportunity.