male labor and delivery nurses

great! Im glad to hear I did'nt scare you away.

If you really want to do it and you love L&D as much as I do you will do fine.

I trained to become a midwife in UK and we had a male RN who was training to become a male midwife or should i say Registered Midwife RM. The women loved him but the husbands were not too sure and would refuse on occasions to have him during their labour. He did his dissertation connected to male midwifery and found at that time 2001 there were only 100 male RM's in UK and a lot less practicing.
Not only did the male midwifes have a hard task to break with 'tradition' ie Midwife being percieved as female yet we all know the term MIDWIFE simple means 'with woman' but they had to contend with colleguees (female midwives) giving them a very hard time.

Hi, this is my first time posting but it reminded me of when I had my first child, so I thought I'd respond. I was very young and I had a male doctor with a male nurse. I asked to have a female nurse instead of the male nurse. But it wasn't his fault I was scared, unsure of what was going to happen to my body and very embarrassed. At first I had no family with me so I just felt very awkward in a room with two men. So if any woman asks to not have you as their nurse please don't take it personaly. It probably has more to do with them then with you.

Welcome to the boards, Angela. Looking forward to hearing more from you!

deb

We have two male nurses on my unit. I have never heard a bad thing about them, from the patients. They seem to have fun with their patients and always get nice notes from their pts. I have to say I take over from them and I am not necessarily impressed. I'm sure they have the skills, and the compassion, they just don't document a darn thing. That being said, they are two of the nicest guys in the world. They would drop anything to help a fellow nurse. My opinion is if you have the desire to do L&D, then do it. Most patients are pretty open-minded, and like it was said in a previous post, if you are helping to "get it out" or are giving pain meds, I'm doubting there is a woman who would complain!

Oh, I should mention we do have patients who refuse a male nurse for religious purposes, I'm sorry off hand I can't remember what religion it is, but their husband is the only male that is allowed to see them.

Good luck to you!

I dont see any problems with males working in labor and delivery. However, when my SIL had her son(I was in the room with her), she had a male nurse and she said she "didnt feel comfortable with him checking her" but then let a male doctor check her later on So just be prepared that you might run into some women like that LOL

Just wanted to say...it really is odd how women are uncomfortable with a male nurse in L&D but don't think twice about having a male OB-GYN. I can see choosing a female doctor or midwife, but all the female OB-GYNs I have come across didn't have children...so I look at it like: what's the difference? Yes, I would prefer being cared for by a woman who has experienced labor, but if not, I know the person is capable! When I had my first child there were student nurses on the unit that day, working in pairs. One of "my" students was male and apparently had become quite accustomed to being kicked out of laboring patient's rooms during deliveries because he looked both shocked and pleased when I gave him permission to stay. Both students visited me the next day and thanked me for letting them stay...I was glad I did, they pampered me!

Funny side story about my OB doc...who is male. A friend of mine who is a L&D RN told me he had adopted an infant (he is single) and had gone around the hospital telling all the female nurses that he appreciated what they had gone through to become mothers and that he was sorry if he had ever given them a hard time. I was pregnant with my second child at the time and sure enough, my next appointment he told me my belly was "beautiful" and gushed about pregnancy/birth and how strong women are. It was so funny!

Good luck to the OP! Congrats on your wife's pregnancy...soon you can offer laboring moms the perspective of a dad!

Jennee

I think the difference between being comfortable with a male OB and a male nurse has to do with the difference between the two roles.

Docs have more of a "take charge" kind of demeanor. There's an invisible boundary keeping things professional in a medical sort of way. And they aren't usually present for most of a woman's labor.

A nurse, on the other hand, seeks to connect with the patient. We women are hard-wired to open ourselves up to each other. It comes naturally. That kind of immediate comfort level is harder to acheive with a male. Not impossible, though.

I was in the hospital last week for a cardiac cath and stent placement. It did seem wierd to have my male nurse checking my groin. Not bad wierd. Just different. It did give my husband pause, though.

That's another aspect of this. The laboring woman might be okay with having a male nurse but her SO might not. He could feel "challenged" in his role as labor coach. He might not like some other guy checking out his wife's tender underparts, though most guys are resigned to the doc doing it. I'm back to my original premise. With docs, it seems like there is a professional distance built in to the position. But nursing, by definition, involves a kind of connection docs don't have. Nursing seems much more intimate.

I think your success will have a lot to do with your demeanor. If you can manage to be sensitive without being apologetic, and you show your capability up front, most women (and hopefully their SOs) will take their cue from you and relax. There will always be those who just can't go there but that's not your worry.

Good luck,
Miranda

Hey there bud. I would have no problem with a male L/D nurse, neither would my hubby. I am pregnant with my fourth child.

First OB was a male...loved him but had to move from Ohio to Bama land 7 months into my second pregnancy. Had a female OB for the remaining few months of the pregnancy....really did not like her and she and my hubby did not get along at all. Have the same male OB right now as I had for number three and I love him, he is terrific! I guess the same would go for a male L/D nurse. Who cares what the nurse's gender is as long as they are a good nurse! That's all I hope for! Good luck and go for it!