I'm a nurse. Also a birth mom. Any others?

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I got pregnant at 19, at the beginning of college. I chose adoption. Hardest thing I have ever done and will ever do in my entire life. I think about him every single day. I went on to graduate with a nursing degree. Hated OB rotation in school - reminded me too much of my son. Totally wrote off working with kids or babies when I graduated. I started on a mostly geriatric med surg floor, where I am now. I have realized med surg is not for me. I am now in my mid twenties and I have come a long way from the broken hearted 19/20 year old that I was. I no longer want to cry when I see happy new mothers with their babies. Seeing babies actually makes me smile. Anyways, I am starting to think that a mother-baby/postpartum unit would be a perfect fit for me. It really appeals to me right now. (Definitely not L&D...I can wipe c-diff poop any day, but the mess of delivery grosses me out). I've also considered the NICU, but think that would be a little more stressful. The only thing is that I am a little nervous about what working with babies might be like.

Are there any other nurses that are birth moms out there? Ever worked with babies after you became a nurse? I've honestly never met another birth mother in my life. Probably because we do not go around advertising this fact about ourselves. But just interested in some input if there are any of you out there. I really want to go for it once I finish up a year on my med surg floor. Just nervous that emotions might come with it.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

First of all, thank you for choosing life for your baby. I applaud your decision.

A close friend is a birth mom and went on to a long career is peds and peds ICU. You are clearly not the person now that you were at 19, and really anything is possible. How about a couple shadow shifts to see how it goes?

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Specializes in School Nursing, Hospice,Med-Surg.

As an adoptive mom, I have to say I think you're one of the most incredible people put on this earth. The incredible sacrifice you made for your son can't be put into words.

I say a prayer every single day (usually more than one) for my daughter's birthmother. That she'll somehow know how much her daughter is loved and adored, that she'll know how thankful I am for giving me the opportunity to be a mother myself, and that she'll know what an amazing little person she created and placed on this planet. I'm so thankful for birthmoms like you!

I can't give a lot of advice as far as what it might be like to transition to mom-baby/postpartum as a birthmother since I've never been one myself. I've never even worked as an RN on that unit. I did work as a patient care tech years ago before I became a mom myself on that type of unit and enjoyed it. You will have adoption situations and find yourself relating a little too much with those birthmoms, maybe? I struggled the most with "moms" who came in to deliver a baby when their previous children had all been removed from their home by CPS but they were allowed to take this newborn home, knowing full well this baby would go into a neglectful, horrible environment and suffer the same situation. 95% of the time it was a happy, happy place to work but sometimes it was just heartbreaking.

I think shadowing for a couple of shifts is a great idea.

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At this remove and with the maturity that came with time, I think you might benefit from a session or two with a counselor who specializes in this. Just the ticket to help you sort it out, address how you could handle some hypotheticals, to prepare yourself.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

As someone with lots of experience in NICU and who has worked with many nurses whose personal histories included NICU's ... I recommend some shadowing and some counseling. Both are good ideas.

Shadowing will help you get an initial feel for how you might feel working in that environment. The counseling can help you work through any feelings that might be stirred by some of the cases you may see there. I've known some NICU nurses with relevant personal histories who did just fine with the average patient situation -- but who had problems when the patient's situation was too much like their own personal ones -- particularly when the nurse disagreed with the decision being made by the baby's parents and health care providers.

I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide.

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Specializes in L&D.

I don't have any advice for you as I am but a student nurse at the moment, but I DO want to thank you for making the loving and self-less choice of choosing life for your child and blessing others with the gift of parenthood. God bless you.

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Thanks guys, I appreciate all the suggestions. I definitely plan on shadowing several units of interest. I did some counseling in the past, but haven't thought of doing it in quite some time. Doing a little counseling/therapy is definitely a good suggestion that I will consider. I still have a few more months until I can transfer (I have just been day dreaming of escaping med surg, and making a plan in advance lol) so we will see where I end up after some thought.

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Specializes in L&D.
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the suggestions. I definitely plan on shadowing several units of interest. I did some counseling in the past, but haven't thought of doing it in quite some time. Doing a little counseling/therapy is definitely a good suggestion that I will consider. I still have a few more months until I can transfer (I have just been day dreaming of escaping med surg, and making a plan in advance lol) so we will see where I end up after some thought.

Good luck with everything! Praying all goes well. Please keep us updated!

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