Free standing birth center

BluegrassRN · May 19, 2011

My birth center employment experience is that it is a labor of love. My pay was low, I didn't get benefits, I worked long hours, but I absolutely loved it.

During office hours I would work up pts for the CNM to see. I also drew/obtained most labs, and did phone triage in between seeing pts. So I would call back pts who called with questions, and I would refill scripts. Time management skills were essential, because you wear a lot of hats.

Nurses at my birth center were responsible for doing the two day and two week check up on moms and babies, as well. We also did some education on certain topics (nutrition, birth control, natural family planning), and gave injections such as immunizations and depo.

After office hours, I finished the clinic laundry, stocked the rooms, ordered supplies, and cleaned and sterilized instruments.

When attending a birth, I simply assisted the midwife. Sometimes I checked mom, listened to heart tones, labored with mom, sometimes the midwife did those things, it just depended upon if the birth was occurring during office hours, or if the midwife needed some sleep. After the birth I was responsible for educating the mom on post-partum care and sending the new family home. I then cleaned the birth room, did laundry, stocked, and wrapped and sterilized the birth kit. The nurse was also responsible for calling the pt ay 24 hours post partum, to assess mom and baby.

ETA: I also taught childbirth, breastfeeding, and newborn care classes. Such classes were required of all first timers at the birth center. There is so much parental responsibility with an out of hospital birth, we focussed heavily on education, both in classes and during appointments. The nurses were as responsible as the CNMs for covering education topics during appointments.

JulsRN · May 20, 2011

Wonderful, thank you so much for your response! Just as I thought... I would truly love this :)