ABSTRACT
The highly empathetic relationship between midwives and women is seen as an important element in midwives' work-related trauma. Students' experiences during their course shape their professional attitudes, and traumatic experiences may have enduring adverse effects, including a high attrition rate from the profession. In consideration of this it is important to explore how student midwives might be affected by trauma and how best to support them. The anxieties in practice internalised negatively by the student relate both to the environment of care and to their individual experiences within the role. The main themes are emerged from the analysis. 'No man's land' was concerned with the traumatic tensions in the student role and exploring their role in the existential space between the woman and the qualified midwives. The chapter explores some aspects of the themes in the light of the current crisis in UK maternity services and what needs to change.
