Catching Babies

I'm 5 weeks into this semester and I'm still not sure how I'm going to fit everything in!  I thought last semester was busy, but this one is even worse and I'm having a great time but longing for some down time.  I've started shifts at the hospital, which has been amazing, but taking up so much time, that I've haven't even started any study yet.  I was rostered in birth suites for the first 2 weeks and was so lucky to have a beautiful birth on each shift.  On my first shift I cared for a woman from the beginning of her labour until about 4 hours postnatal - it was a wonderful spontaneous birth and I was lucky enough to catch the baby at birth.  I was buddied that time with a midwife that seemed to have a skewed idea of being "with woman" and spent most of the shift downstairs sucking on nicotine.  It was stressful for me at times, being in charge of monitoring (via doppler) interpreting and caring for the woman - mostly by myself, on my very first shift.  I felt like I was constantly looking for the midwife, so that she could teach and support me - but mostly having to just do it all myself. There was a shift change just before the woman birthed, so a new midwife was their for pushing.  I can't begin to describe the feeling of catching my very first baby!  Knowing that I was the first hands on a brand new baby, is such an honour and privilege and a moment that I hope to always respect.  Seeing that brand new family bond and meet their baby for the first time is just so beautiful and it almost feels like an intrusion to be there. 

The next shift I was also lucky enough to support a woman from the beginning of her labour to the end.  This time though, I had a wonderful midwife who was so kind and supportive and gave me lots of confidence.  I once again cared for the woman through the labour, but this time I knew that the midwife was close by and would be there instantly if I needed her.  A funny thing happened this time though.  We'd just examined the woman and she was 4 cm dilated.  About half hour later the midwife went out to the Midwives station to right the results on the board.  It was a quiet night and I was the only person in with a labouring woman, all the other Midwives and Dr's were sitting around talking and drinking coffee trying to stay awake during the night shift.  About half hour after the midwife left (so 1 hour after the examination) I started noticing signs of what I thought could have been second stage, which is time for pushing.  I thought during each contraction I could see parts of the head, but wasn't totally sure  as it was a first time mum and we'd only just assessed her an hour before as 4cm dilated.  A few other things had me questioning if it really was second stage though, so I walked out to the Midwives station (remember, it's my second shift and I've fronting up to all the midwives, Dr's etc here!) and said "I know we only just assessed her and I've probably being very presumptuous and over cautious, BUT I think I can see signs of second stage"  They all kinda looked at the board then looked back at me as if to say "Crazy student has no idea what she is talking about!"  The midwife I was with said, "Ok, I'll come have a look and then go for my break - baby may just be in a posterior position and giving early signs of pushing, but it's most likely not time yet"  She came in, checked her quickly then announced "You were right!  Head is on view"  Half an hour later I caught my second baby!

On another shift, I also made the rookie move of not getting gloves on quick enough.  It is drummed into our brain to "Never trust a Multip", So never trust a woman that has laboured before - I've definitely learnt that now!  I was with a fantastic midwife caring for a woman having her 3rd baby.  She'd just done an examination and she was 7cm.  I turned around to wash my hands and get some new gloves on, turned back and there was a head out laying on the bed - I missed that catch!!  All the midwives had a laugh about that and recalled there own stories of taking their eyes off the woman for a second and turning back to see a baby already there!  I'll hopefully never do that again.  Everything was fine though, and even though baby came out very quickly she had no tears - thank goodness!

I also had one of my follow throughs have a magical birth on Monday.  It was by far my favourite as I'd been able to do all her antenatal care and we had such a great relationship and understanding of each other by the time she was in labour.  I felt so comfortable in her birth, and having that connection antenatally made caring for her in labour so much more intuitive.  I was able to once again do all her care and support in the birth and catch her beautiful little baby.  The high after that birth was amazing and I can't believe that I get to feel so good doing my job.  Seeing her grow through the pregnancy and then watch that transition from woman to mother is such a special relationship to witness.  It is an absolute privilege to be there at that moment and I try very hard to be respectful of the new family whilst still going about doing all the things I need to do. 

I've got a couple of week in the Antenatal clinic now, so lots of talking, blood pressure, palpation's and education - which is certainly different for the highly emotional and sometimes full-on environment of birth suites.  I'm hoping that these few weeks won't be as busy though so I can finally start on my actual course work as I haven't even opened anything yet and I have a research literature review due in a few weeks followed by 2 more essays not long after.  I'm not stressed about the work though, I know I'll get it done.  It may not be at the standard I normally like to submit, but I realise now that my time on the shifts is where most of my learning will be happening and although my marks won't reflect how well I'm going clinically (it's just pass/fail) I will be gaining so much.