[editor2rn]

Originally Posted by MarySunshine

That was just so well written and so shockingly awful, yet totally believable. I'm also sorry if it's not funny to you (understandable), but made me laugh because of the absurdity. It sounds like things improved greatly for you?

Yes, I can laugh now, especially when I think of the covert way I had to get the breast pump. The lactation consultant set up a time on Sunday afternoon, when no one would be around, for my husband to get the pump. Then we paid for three months so that no one would see checks come in and question why I had the super-pump. It was all so ridiculous. I could have kissed her, though.

And, yes, things are sooooo much better. And, I'm sure LLL would be surprised to learn, my daughter is now ten years old with no sign of attachment disorder from taking a bottle.

Seriously, though, I learned that not all things come "naturally" when it comes to having babies, and some things just don't go well, and it's not the mom's fault. Everyone needs to do what's best for them and their family and the last things moms need is the guilt that some folks can dish out.

[KaroSnowQueen]

I am not an OB nurse, but as a mother of 5, and foster mother (in the past) to 11, I often get called upon as a casual resource person for new mothers.
And when I worked at a hospital that was just starting to take OB patients, I felt so privileged to have the house sup call me to talk to a mother who had just had her fifth baby -- the lady and her DH wanted that many kids, but all the in-laws were giving them grief about how "awful their lives would be with all those kids!" I talked to her about my kids (who were 10, 10, 9,8, & 7 at the time), and how great it was and how happy I was to have all of them. That lady perked up and she was so happy to find someone who understood her feelings of WANTING a bunch of kids (and they appeared to be quite financially solvent, not sure why the in-laws were in such an uproar), and she went to bed that night relieved and emotionally more secure.
A nurse in the hospital can make all the difference to the mother in helping her get the birth/baby feeding/bonding experience she wants. And if she doesn't get it there, I have felt so great and so privileged to help new mothers at home, teaching them to nurse and explaining babies and their behaviors and care.
So, to the OP, I say yes, work in OB, see what a difference you can make. You may at some point in the future want to become a CNM or a LaMaze class instructor, or work with LaLeche League, or a doula. Or just be a casual resource for those who need help and don't have the financial resources to get it otherwise. All of these things can be very rewarding.

And although it doesn't happen very often, in hospital OB work, you WILL see the occasional mother who codes (PE, unknown heart disorder), and be thankful for those resources. I have taken care of just those two patients in the past several years.

[Pinkster]

I'm just a pre-nursing student but I am a mother of one, and I took the lamase classes and did my own research, So I was prepared with what I wanted to do and what I did not want, I did not want to have a C-section unless it was the ONLY option, and I did not want forceps or a vaccum applied to my babies head, I knew I could get him out myself. I did opt for an epidural, but it was given so late that It was not fuly effective until afterwards. Needless to say I pushed for less than an hour and When i heard the doctor mumble suomething about forceps, I pushed even harder, and within minutes the baby was out.

I know that Doctors push for unnatural means of birth because it is 'safer' but I think that there is a reason that that baby goes through th birth canal, just like you do not assist a baby chicken out of it's shell, even though it takes it sometimes 24 hours to break out, if it does not go through this process that chick will not have proper lung function.

Out of the last 3 friends of mine that have given birth, only one of them did so vaginally... and she is 5 foot nothin under 100 lbs. The other's were induced and because of this their contractions were not strong enough so they had to undergo c-section. and those that had c-cection they were unsuccessul at breast feeding.

ANYWAYS. As you can tell I am very passionate on this subject and is my reason for wanting to work in this area so that I may share my personal experience and to those that may not be informed of the options let them know they have a say in their child's birth.

So I say GO FOR IT!

[Belinda-wales]

My advise if you want to be a midwife stay as far away from L&D as you can! It will offer nothing to you- as I watched a doctor cut a 19 year old girl last night and then pull and push the baby out - then put her back together no emotion just get the job done attitued.!

[Booty Nurse]

I used to be a licensed (direct-entry) midwife. I ended up going to nursing school because I decided the ideals of my youth were not enough and that I needed a "real" job with benefits and a steady paycheck. I also got to hate being on call all the time. As a direct-entry midwife in most places, you are constantly fighting for respect and cooperation from the medical community. The combination of lousy pay and lousy schedule was too much. There are plenty who make it work, but you have to really want it.

After I quit (I also moved to a different state a year or so after leaving midwifery), I made a friend who was an OB nurse. We talked shop a lot and I started missing it. I decided if she could feel fulfilled as a nurse, so could I. I went back to school with the intent of eventually becoming an OB nurse.

After working on med-surg for a couple of years, I cross-trained to OB, meaning that I would fill in holes in the schedule and float up when they were busy. I think as hospital birth centers go, ours is excellent -- low rates of intrapartum pain medication, water births, many CNM deliveries, Baby-Friendly certified -- but it was worlds away from home birth. The population is so different. I was sad to see so many moms who were uninterested in learning about what was going on, who took poor care of themselves and their children, who didn't want to breastfeed. There are so many social issues going on in the OB population where I live. I didn't like the lack of continuity of care -- I was used to getting to know my clients throughout their pregnancies. Lots of women are induced just because they are 40 and 1/2 weeks.

I worked on OB as a cross-trainer for two years, then decided to stop because I just wasn't crazy about being up there. I'm so glad that I got the chance to have the experience before I took a position there. If I were you, I would find a way to spend time on an OB unit and feel it out. OB units vary tremendously. As a previous poster said, you can make a difference for one mom/baby at a time. Whether you can do that without having your soul crushed depends on the unit, and on you. Good luck!

[scorpiostudent]

Zebras thank you so much for sharing your story. It really reflects what I see here, and I don't know that I could do it day in and day out without my "soul being crushed". Hopefully I will have the opportunity to test the waters as you did, and decide if I can handle it. I know that as nurses, we have to follow the doctor and midwife's orders, and that makes me really skeptical.

On the other hand, I know the most incredible CNM that really has made a huge difference working within the constraints of a very screwed up system (heavy handed bad bedside mannered OB, horrible old "fashioned" hospital and non-natural birth friendly OB ward) I've often wondered how much more of a difference she could make if the floor nurses supported her instead of being one more obstacle in her path.