L&D nurses without children

[loving2]

I'm new to L&D. I've had a few people, (mostly non-healthcare individuals, but also another nurse) mention that a good L&D nurse should have gone through labor herself. That way she truly knows how the patient feels. What is your take on this? I have 2 children. I labored with my first child and ultimately gave birth via emergency c/s. My 2nd child was born repeat c/s. There are a handful of nurses on my unit that don't have children and I feel they are very skilled and compassionate.

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

Well, if an L&D nurse needs to have experienced labor to be a good nurse, I would hate to see the criteria for a good hospice nurse.

OK, that may be in poor taste, but I think that a good nurse is one that looks beyond his/her own experiences and focuses on the patient, removing any bias or assumption based on personal experience.

[JacknSweetpea]

I don't think it should matter. As other posters have said....there have been many great L & D nurses whom never had children. I cannot have biological children myself, and there is enough of a stigma attached to that.....let's not bring biases against women without children into our profession.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I'm new to L&D. I've had a few people, (mostly non-healthcare individuals, but also another nurse) mention that a good L&D nurse should have gone through labor herself. That way she truly knows how the patient feels. What is your take on this? I have 2 children. I labored with my first child and ultimately gave birth via emergency c/s. My 2nd child was born repeat c/s. There are a handful of nurses on my unit that don't have children and I feel they are very skilled and compassionate.

To me, that is the biggest crock of $%##$ that you have to have bore chidren in order to be a good labor and delivery nurse.

That is like saying....the cardiac nurse needs to have heart problems or heart surgery...the transplant nurses need to have received an organ donation...the neuro nurses need to have some type of neurological disorder, etc.

What you need is to pay attention to what experienced nurses teach you, have compassion, listen to your patient and research as much as you can on your own...that is the difference between a good nurse, and a nurse that is just getting by.

There are several young nurses (under 30 years of age that have been working several years) that work in our L&D unit that do not have children...and I would want them taking care of me any day of the week.