BEVAs MumsVet Garners Global Interest
7 years ago 
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BEVA’s MumsVet garners global interest
MumsVet was launched at BEVA Congress last year with the aim of providing online support for equine veterinary professionals juggling work and parenthood. One year on, far from being just a national initiative supporting equine mums, it is fast becoming a global phenomenon reinforcing the need for work-life balance for ALL vets. Veterinary organisations and individuals from America to the Antipodes have been spreading the word, contributing to social media interactions and asking for guidance on how to set up their own online support networks.
MumsVet is a one-stop shop for information and support for veterinary employees (and employers) who are also mums or dads facing questions posed by pregnancy, parental leave and returning to work as a parent in equine practice. Through a series of interactive blogs, podcasts, real life stories, career guidance, educational articles and thought-provoking social media posts MumsVet provides guidance for realistic expectations, resources for difficult situations, and support and reassurance for practices and parents to combine work and family.
The MumsVet fan base has been growing rapidly over the past year. The MumsVet Facebook page, which was launched in July, secured 132 target followers within the first nine hours – a significant number for this niche market. There has also been almost quarter of a million engagements and responses to blogs, posts and media coverage and counting.
In the UK the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) is currently exploring options to work with MumsVet, to share resources and to develop their own small animal related service. Further afield the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) is supporting MumsVet with social media shares, retweets and link posts. The Australian Equine Veterinary Association (AEVA) has been in touch asking for guidance on how to set its own site up and closer to home European counterparts are looking at ways to collaborate. The World Equine Veterinary Association (WEVA) is also keen to spread the word. WEVA President Kate Savage, Equine Internal Medicine Specialist based in Australia and mother of three boys, is planning to mention MumsVet in her forthcoming lecture on Women in Equine Practice in Veracruz, Mexico next week.
Kate Savage said: “MumsVet is an incredibly important initiative and about 35 years overdue (tongue in cheek!). Our 1987 graduating class was the first class for our University that had equal numbers of female students and all over the world women are now making up a huge portion of the equine veterinary industry. The support and education that will be gained from this forum for current and future veterinary parents (mums and dads) and non-parent employees and employers alike is potentially explosive. Last year, AAEP featured Women in Equine Leadership and part of the panel focused on the “juggling” of parenthood and jobs - so tricky, but often made more difficult by lack of understanding and empathy. Next week we will again focus on Women In Equine Practice at the AMMVEE in Mexico. Thank you to all those working at MumsVet. The word is spreading.”
Comments from BEVA members who have proactively contacted MumsVet reflect how well-received the initiative is within the profession:
“I felt inspired to write to you following reading your article in this week’s Veterinary Times. Stepping back now, with number two on the way, I feel very strongly that the profession needs to do more in supporting parents, and mums to be…as the profession gains more and more mums, it makes me feel sad that history may just continue to repeat itself. I write to you in the hope that perhaps I can help you with your marvellous campaign”
From a vet in New Zealand: “Well done on the working mums organisation – it’s really great.”
From Jessica Kidd, UK Specialist in Equine Surgery: "MumsVet provides a much needed resource for those vets who are juggling work as a vet, and the rest of their lives. Regardless of whether this is children, or families, or part time work, just knowing that others are facing the same challenges is both reassuring and comforting."
Vicki Nicholls, equine vet and outgoing President of BEVA, who helped to create MumsVet said: “We are bowled over by the response we have had to MumsVet. The bottom line is that we are helping to make a difference to the lives of hard working mums and dads. Creating a better harmony between the workplace and parenting has got to be good, for everyone, whether they are directly or indirectly involved. Retention of experienced equine vets in the profession is dependent on achieving practical solutions to work-life balance now more than ever before.”
Next up for the tireless MumsVet working party, which comprises founders Vicki Nicholls and Lucy Grieve with fellow equine vets Hannah Yeates, Carolyne Crowe, Sarah Gasper and Ben Sturgeon, is the launch of a pregnancy toolkit and practice checklist protocol.
For further information about how to get involved follow https://www.beva.org.uk/Home/Careers/Mumsvet
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