Hi, my name is Caitlin, I’m a third-year student midwife at the University of Plymouth and at the end of this academic year (August 2026), I have the amazing opportunity to travel and experience midwifery in Sri Lanka. Midwifery is truly a passion, not just a career, and it is incredibly inspiring and rewarding to see how one of the world’s oldest professions is practised in different cultures.

Sri Lanka is a developing country that provides universal healthcare to all citizens, offering a combination of traditional Ayurvedic and modern healthcare services free of charge across government hospitals. I believe that it is essential to learn from traditional practices, especially when it comes to birth, as they can help people even in a medicalised high-income country such as the UK. Ayurveda is one of the oldest healing sciences around the world, originating in India over 3000 years ago, and it is still implemented routinely in Sri Lankan medicine. In the UK, we are also seeing a movement towards more holistic practices, which I am very interested in learning more about to best help individuals I see in practice.

In Sri Lanka, I could observe practices at the Balapitiya Base Government Hospital, Elpitiya Base Government Hospital, and Village Ayurveda Government Treatment Centre.

I will be spending my birthday on this placement and hope to explore as much as I can before I start my career as a qualified midwife.

So what are the actual costs:

Flights approx: £1000

Mighty Roar Placement (inc Insurance): £564.95

Visa: £40

DBS Check: £21.50

I would also need to pay for any vaccinations following a consultation with a travel health advisor.

If you could donate even a small amount to help me go on this fantastic experience, or if you could share my page to help, I would be extremely grateful