I was working towards social work for a while when I was younger. Of course much has changed in the intervening years.
I personally would have loved to have been a social worker. However, a while after I started down that path all hell broke lose with some scandal of children having been taken away from their parents unnessicarily and there was a huge public outcry and investigation into how the social services in that area had conducted themselves. It wasn't just a few families but many. And it was discovered they had acted out of place removing all these children. Social Servies were villified nationally.
I then really started looking at the area I hoped to go in to which would have meant being involved with familes and children and I asked myself if I would ever feel comfortable making a call that would/could affect a families and a childs life forever. Right or wrong. For the times you get it right, then good, but that one wrong call and it can ruin not only their lives but your own also.
That and about a million other things made me rethink things and I decided against it. I also felt it was becoming more and more about paperwork and statistics over people. It was not perfect even then, but I don't think its moved forward in those terms today. I wanted to be hands on and do a job. Much like everything else these days its lots of paperwork before you can even think of anything else.
I've worked with people with mental health problems. Its hard work, rewarding and enjoyable. Sometimes scary, sometimes very emotional and sometimes downright disgusting (ever seen a grown person smear their own faeces over an entire room, walls, carpet and furniture and then over themselves because they had run out of ciggarettes -smoked their pack of 20 too quickly- and you were not allowed to give them any more, even from another member of staffs own supply). It was one of those moments I wondered why I was doing the job. More so for the stupid rule of not giving them a ciggy if they smoked all their own than for the persons response. But then they had pocket money and so on so could have bought more.... so much paperwork and guidelines to follow now also.
Probation service could also be difficult. Just in the people you will have to deal with etc. Not saying everyone who is on probation is a thug or horrible, but that its a job that is often thankless and I'd think emotionally you have to be able to detach from it.
I think midwifery would be interesting. The homebirth and community side appeals more to me than hospital. I can see the positives in helping to bring life into the world. Yes there would be some sad times on occasion but overall, I think it would be very rewarding.