Any men in OB?

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I am in my last semester of nursing school and I'm ready to apply to new grad programs. I am very interested in OB because I really enjoyed my OB rotation last semester. My question is: are there any men in OB on here and do you recommend entering the specialty as a male? Also, how may OB nursing be different as a male compared to a female?

Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

I'd choose working on a crab fishing boat in the Bering Sea over working OB

I'd choose working on a crab fishing boat in the Bering Sea over working OB

Why? I did Post Partum and Labour Delivery clinicals these past few weeks and I realized that it's not for me.

I like the NICU though after I did two tours in that area.

I worked in a small rural hospital as a charge nurse over med-surg. We also had 2 OB rooms and 2 OB Dr's. Now, granted, I always had a female LVN to labor the pt along, but when entering in to do my RN assessment, I never once got the blind eye from a pt or the family. I think it is all in the way your approach them. I would talk about my kids and that my daughter was born in this hospital and how great the staff is. It made them feel comfortable. Now, like I said, I did not do any laboring. I would help set up monitors and such as that. But, when baby was born, that's when my superhero nurse cape went on! I took care of baby why LVN and Dr took care of mom. I loved it. Footprints were always fun to do. I think you would be fine as long as you were professional in your interview and explain that you really enjoyed OB and you feel that you could be a asset to the department (lifting if needed, talking to dads). Point out all the benefits of having a male on the unit.

Specializes in ICU, Trauma, CCT,Emergency, Flight, OR Nursing.

Not having men in OB/ Maternity must be an American thing. In South Africa where I did my training as a RN, we HAD to do 1 year of midwifery/ Obstetrics in order to register as a RN. You were required to perform Vag exams, work in antenatal clinic for 6 weeks; Labour ward for 2 months (no MD's only midwives in the Midwife obstetric units) as well as several months in a large academic hospital L&D. Delivered about 60-70 new lives , including managing breech presentations , shoulder dystocia and a great number of other labor complications. It is totally acceptable there for men to work in Maternity and never had any woman object to me taking care of her or her baby. I think the situation in the US is largely perpetuated by nurses ourselves and the persistent stereotype about men being involved in the care of pregnant women.

Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
I'd choose working on a crab fishing boat in the Bering Sea over working OB

Same here and I'm a woman.

I did L & D for a spell and my only male coworkers were scrub techs. I think you should go for it, though. I'm pregnant right now and I don't care what genitalia my nurse has.

Specializes in L&D, OBED, NICU, Lactation.

Yup, right here. In fact, both hospitals I work at have one other guy (there are 3 of us male OB RNs in this city). I do L&D, NICU, and I'm a lactation counselor. I have always loved L&D and wanted to work there from the first day of my clinicals in nursing school. I will only work in Women/Children's services, I hate working with adults or grown kiddos.

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