A Mindset that Makes Resilience Possible

Resilience is described as the ability to maintain a high standard of performance and professionalism under pressure. It is about having effective coping strategies, being able to bounce back, maintaining a sense of control in the face of challenge or adversity.

 

Resilience for midwives, doctors and obstetricians

For midwives, doctors and obstetricians, resilience is a crucial quality given that people’s lives are at risk and the working day is unpredictable, demanding and at times emotionally charged. In 2016 InterBe teamed with one of the UK’s leading mother and newborn baby charities, Baby Lifeline, to create a resilience workshop aimed at maternity professionals.

Whereas much resilience training focuses on providing a toolbox of techniques, InterBe’s approach was more about developing a resilience mindset: a mindset that allows for uncertainty, stress and pressure without limiting possibilities for the way forward.

 

Different ways of thinking

At the end of the workshop, participants said they were taking away a number of different ways of thinking that would improve their resilience at work. These included: speaking what you want into existence; “I am the source of my experience” and letting go of recurring thoughts.

 

'Unlike any other training'

Participants reflected that the course was unlike other training and provided new ways to think about resilience. One said: “This should be mandatory for all NHS staff. It’s the missing link in the current training.”

 

To maternity and beyond

Another said: “Please continue to make [this training] available to everyone in maternity and beyond.”

 

We all need resilience

We all need resilience. Life is often challenging and demanding and we need to be able to recover so that we can enjoy those other times in our lives: peaceful times, times of joy, times when we can simply be ourselves.