male labor and delivery nurses

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

Hi I'm a pediatric nurse from the bay area. I've been working here about six years and am concidering trying labor and delivery. I loved it in school, and I loved it when my wife gave birth. I was wondering if anyone knew any male LD nurses. I posted a similar question not long ago, but I got only one reply from a man, and he said he could not get a LD job. I got some positive and some not-so-positive replies from women. I would love any input!

Thanks,

T.

Specializes in L&D; Case Management; Nursing Education.

In the many years that I worked in L&D, we had only one travel nurse and it was a male. At first the staff was a bit surprised, as no one had ever heard of a male L&D nurse. But he turned out to be a wonderful nurse and taught me a "trick" to help during pushing that I used for years. The patients loved him and no one ever refused to have him be their nurse. The docs liked him too. He stayed for 6 months and then moved on.

I teach OB nursing in L&D and have had quite a few patients who refused to have a male nursing student during their labors and delivery. But I always think it's ironic, though, that most of them have male doctors and don't refuse male med students or residents. :uhoh3:

I teach OB nursing in L&D and have had quite a few patients who refused to have a male nursing student during their labors and delivery. But I always think it's ironic, though, that most of them have male doctors and don't refuse male med students or residents. :uhoh3:

I am a male nurse who aspires to work in L&D and have pondered this field based on my experience in nursing school. Like most other males I had a large number of patients refuse to allow me to be present during their delivery, I felt hard done by because they decided before they met me and I like to think of myself as a caring compassionate person. I ended up observing 2 births, the first I was put into scrubs (to fit in) and went in as pushing was underway and aided the nursery nurse. There was certainly a tense moment when they weren't quite sure who I was (at least that was my perception), however with a baby coming focus was soon directed back to the matter at hand. Once all the commotion died down the family soon warmed up to me. The second one was a laboring mom who on a very quiet day agreed to allow me to care for her, but as pushing commenced and for exams she would rather me not there. I was fine with that. However after spending a little bit of time with her and her husband ithey informed the nurse that I was welcome to stay for all of it. I ended up doing my last rotation (where they immerse you in a specific unit) in maternity and had a wonderful experience with all involved.

I have thought long and hard about my experiences and whether going into maternity is something I should pursue. What I concluded is this - as a student during labor you are there to observe. If I was having a vasectomy, I would have no problems with a female nurse, or a female doctor however the thought of someone just there observing is not something I would be comfortable with. Once you have a role, the relationship becomes very different, or if you had an opportunity to build rapport before then the comfort level changes, but as a male hoping to get involved in L&D I totally understand why so many women so no to male students.

from my experience the most opposition one gets from being a male in nursing is from your peers. i would say at least 70% of my patients in all areas were female and they loved the care they received and chatted me up to their roomates and others. for the pt. it's mostly about your knowledge, demeanor, professionalism, and i always attempt to keep their privacy/dignity if at all possible. if you're confident in what you're doing then having a husband/boyfriend around isn't an issue. i always let the pt. decide who stays or goes and draping/curtains/door are all used - for both male and female pts. in l/d i had no problem with any of the pts or their male SO. whenever possible i included him in the process and explained things to him and the pt. a calm/professional/friendly approach leaves everyone comfortable and before you know it, it over and you're washing your hands telling them when you'll return. as for postpartum, there again, it's how you behave. i even did home visits and was checking one mothers breasts while her husband was present(hispanic) and when palpating her breast the milk squirt me in the face. we all started to laugh. it was my peers that made the experience difficult. as for l/d; what better practice is there then to help bring new life into the world and experience the joy along with the family.

I would personally have no problem having a male be my L&D nurse as long as he was a good nurse (attentive to my needs, etc.). My own OB is also a male, however, so I am one of those women who are okay with being cared for by male healthcare providers.

In my experience as a med-surg nurse, most female pt's seem to refuse male nurses. As a female nurse working on a ward with many male nurses, I am often asked to catheterize and/or help the female pts of my male coworkers with ADL's because they have refused such care from them. For this reason, whenever possible, female nurses are assigned female pts where I work.

I imagine the same would happen on an OB ward if there were a lot of male nurses, so from a practical standpoint, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to hire many male nurses in OB. Not because there's anything wrong with male nurses, but just because female pts generally prefer female nurses, and will refuse them. I wonder how nurse managers for OB wards deal with this issue when it comes to hiring?

Although I can understand both sides to this discussion, I think the patient's wishes should ultimately be the deciding factor. If the staff is not comfortable with a male obstetrics nurse then that is their problem; just as it is with me being personally uncomfortable being in obstetrics. As a male RN student, I have found it to be a difficult subject to deal with. I recently wrote a journal entry on this subject, and thought I'd share part of it.

"The experiences from a study by Maureen McRae originally published in the 2003 May/June issue of Maternal Child Nursing Magazine; dealt with this very question. The study suggests that most female nurses had highly favorable views toward men as OB/GYN nurses. The patients indicated similar views. Fully 67.6 percent of pregnant women in the McRae study had positive views of men in obstetrical nursing. The exceptions voiced were usually those who had male obstetricians or partners that objected to male obstetric nurses. Interestingly enough though, it was the men themselves that showed a decreased comfort level, a lack of interest in the obstetrics specialty, and a perceived societal bias against them. Of 599 male RN’s surveyed, 62.3% said they would not consider working in women’s health. The author of the study feels the reason for that starts in nursing school, although without any explaination given."

I do have one question; Is this bias against male nurses in obstetrics divided along age lines?

Have a great day!

I am a male student, graduating this Fall from a BSN program. My OB rotation was by far my favorite, and the difference maker was my first preceptor. She told me on my first day, "If you give the patient an opportunity to feel awkward or uncomfortable, they will run with it. Just walk in there, introduce yourself as Randall, their nurse for the day, you rid yourself of 99% of those awkward situations. Thereafter, if someone has an issue, they let you know, no harm done. You are just as capable of providing competent care on this unit, even if you don't have a vajayjay" excuse my language, but that was a direct quote! I will be commissioning as an officer in the AF to work in OB, and that preceptor played a crucial role in my decision, even wrote one of my letters of recommendation!

I apologize for the long-winded answer, but I couldn't be more excited to jump into this field, and I encourage any of you to do the same. There are women I've talked to, or my wife has spoken with , that find my interest in OB strange, but who cares?! I know my intentions, and I won't let them stop me from getting my PhD and becoming an expert in my field.

I am a male student, graduating this Fall from a BSN program. My OB rotation was by far my favorite, and the difference maker was my first preceptor. She told me on my first day, "If you give the patient an opportunity to feel awkward or uncomfortable, they will run with it. Just walk in there, introduce yourself as Randall, their nurse for the day, you rid yourself of 99% of those awkward situations. Thereafter, if someone has an issue, they let you know, no harm done. You are just as capable of providing competent care on this unit, even if you don't have a vajayjay" excuse my language, but that was a direct quote! I will be commissioning as an officer in the AF to work in OB, and that preceptor played a crucial role in my decision, even wrote one of my letters of recommendation!

I apologize for the long-winded answer, but I couldn't be more excited to jump into this field, and I encourage any of you to do the same. There are women I've talked to, or my wife has spoken with , that find my interest in OB strange, but who cares?! I know my intentions, and I won't let them stop me from getting my PhD and becoming an expert in my field.

What a great post! You were fortunate to have such a great preceptor. I hope all goes well for you.

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