Caught my first yesterday!

[mitchsmom]

:balloons: I caught my first baby yesterday! :balloons:

Mama's cervix was just melting away... I called the MD when she was 8-9 & I told her so, and she said she'd come but Superman couldn't have made it in time for this one! It was a very smooth and clean birth for a first catch, fortunately :)

The only thing that put a damper on it is that I overheard the MD making a remark- "well (insert my name) didn't call me in time!"

[babyktchr, BSN, RN]

Oh yes...our unattended deliveries are written up on our "safety tracking tools". I guess they sit around in the OB/GYN meeting and smack each other on the hands. I think if they DID have to fork over the fee they charge to the NURSE, they wouldn't be missing many more deliveries.

[mitchsmom]

Can I have a crystal ball, too? My ESP is broken, so it might help!

[SmilingBluEyes]

We must do variance reports for all out-of-ordinary or complication situations, including nurse-attended or out-of-hospital births.

[eden]

Congrats on a job well done. You'll remember that one for a long time. I had my first a couple of weeks ago and i can still see it like it was today's delivery.

No we don't do occurance reports with nurse attended deliveries.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

My ob doc could watch my strip from home on her computer. And from her office too.

Pretty cool technology.

steph

[HappyNurse2005, RN]

Our docs are always in house if they have a pt laboring. When on orientation, my preceptor caught a baby (and i stood there thinking "oh sh*t). G2P1, 8cm, epidural. was emptying her bladder and she goes "oh, i feel something" and the whole head was out. Pushed the call button on the bed to call for the doc to come in and the baby just came right out on the bed with no pushing. 8 pound baby, too!

[strn96]

Congratulations! There's nothing quite like that first catch.

Had a pt once who delivered less than 10 min after she walked in the door. Of course not enough time to get the doc there, even though we checked her and called him as soon as she walked in. Doc still complained (he HATES missing his deliveries), and I would have loved to use the crystal ball comment. Fortunately, for the most part our docs (including this one) are pretty nice, but they can get snippy, especially in the middle of the night.

[flytern]

Congrats! What a feeling (both scary as all get out and exhilarating)

But, forget the docs. Sometimes you just have to say, stop the panting and push! Why prolong moms pain?

Before we had our "doc in the box" (the MD who spends the night with us), we routinely did a nurse only delivery about once a week. And considering some of our MD's, it was probably better for mom and baby. (no epis and usually no tears). We're much more patient with out patients!

Last month, I had a multip come in, complete, barely made the bed, delivered the baby. MD got called after the fact, came in, started blustering about not being called in time. The patient and the family said to the doc, I knew we were in good hands, this RN had delivered her last baby!

So I'm 2 for 2 with this group, maybe I should go into private practice.

[IslandtrainedRN]

The hospital where I did my labour and delivery preceptorship is a teaching hospital, so it always has at least one OB and at least one resident on call in the hospital, which is really nice (and not possible at many hospitals). During my 2.5 months there there were NO deliveries by nurses, but even with great physician staffing it happens occasionally, and there's nothing we nurses can do about it. One nurse told me that she caught a baby while the mom was sitting on the toilet. SCARY! And sometimes we would have 4 women fully dilated at the same time and a few others getting very close. It's just inevitable that nurses are going to be catching babies sometimes and nobody should be angry about it. They should be grateful that there are qualified nurses ready to step-up and save the day.

Congratulations on your first catch! I sincerely hope that all of your future catches go as well. I'm terrified about my first, so hopefully it will be safe and smooth like yours.

As for the MD, some people are just jerks. They can't just accept that things didn't go their way so they have a need to blame someone. The doctor isn't the important person though, the client is, and it sounds like your client/family is pretty happy with you. You can bet they'll remember you forever!

[MamaMadge, ADN, BSN]

Good work Mitchsmom!

I specifically asked one of the midwives, with the patient's permission of course, if I could deliver her patient while I was still doing my orientation. It was wonderful! I did it myself but with the CNM standing right by my side telling me what to do. Truly an awesome experience!! Let's face it, precips happen to the most cautious, experienced Labor nurses. The key is having those other nurses there to help you out! That's what I truly love about OB nursing....THE TEAM WORK!!!