My Dream to be a Labor and Delivery Nurse

[MrsSassyLassie]

"I want to help mothers give birth." My grandmother, an retired RN, gave me a questioning glance. "I wouldn't be so sure," she warned me. "It's not as pretty as it looks on TV."

Suddenly, I felt defensive. Ever since my sister was born, I've been fascinated by birth. I'd read "What to Expect When You're Expecting" at the age of 8 behind my parent's backs and caught every episode of "A Baby Story" on TLC. In my eyes, birth was the most beautiful thing in the world. Hearing my experienced grandmother tell me something different made me wonder . . . was I mistaken?

I spend the next three years researching and looking for evidence that my grandmother was right. I devoted all my free time in highschool to reading birth stories and watching birth videos on YouTube. I expected to get scared away. Instead, I fell deeper in love with the miracle of life. I realized that this was my calling and I had to follow it.

I've decided to be a labor and delivery nurse. Before the experienced RN raises a brow in question, let me assure you that I'm aware I won't be cuddling babies all day. I know that blood, vomit, feces, amniotic fluid, and meconium are all a part of the package. Hours on my feet will leave me exhausted and often frustrated. I'll sacrifice a good portion of my life to this mysterious passion I've had as long as I can remember. Sometimes I'll wonder if it's worth it.

Birth, in its essence, is life. Yet life and death are often devastatingly close in nature. As sure as I am that I'll help bring life into the world, I'm also sure I'll see it leave. From the stillborn baby to the mother who loses her fight, birth isn't spared from death. I know I'll come face to face with tragedy, and though I dread it, I accept this as inevitable.

Still, I want to be a labor and delivery nurse. I feel a mysterious and indescribable urge to be right in the thick of it. The thought of blood and bodily fluids doesn't frighten me. The knowledge that I'll be exhausted only reminds me I'll be doing something worthwhile. The prospect of death only makes me want to fight for life. I still believe that birth is beautiful.

Perhaps I sound very sure of myself for someone with no real experience. In truth, I'm scared. I feel this calling into the unknown and I know I must follow it. I have no idea if I'll succeed, and the prospect of failing frightens me. I know the course I've chosen to follow is a difficult one, and I often wonder if I'm up for the task.

The only thing that I'm sure of is that I can't be sure of anything. Every day and every birth will look different and present different challenges. I look ahead and see a long road in front of me. I smile. It's time to see what I'm capable of, and I'm excited.

[AprilAnney]

This sounds a lot like my life a few years ago. After I had my first child, I realized that I loved the pregnancy/labor/childhood/peripartum period. I originally started off with the intention of becoming a birth doula and possibly an IBCLC. I went to a weekend doula training seminar with a friend (who is now a post partum doula). While the experience was amazing, it left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Doula certification requires tons of hours of research, birth experiences, and work- but when it comes down to it, a doula cannot educate a patient (and understandably so--they are not technically licensed professionals even though they are sometimes just as educated, if not more, than OB nurses). I had a very frank discussion with the leader of the doula training course (I think we both rubbed each other the wrong way from the get-go) that resulted in me enrolling in nursing prerequisites the day after I finished the doula training seminar.

Four years later, I graduated with my BSN. I absolutely adored my OB clinical and was so lucky to be placed at the exact practicum location I wanted- the L&D floor at the hospital I wanted to work at (I was a PCT at the hopsital at the time on the float unit getting mainly med/surg experience). However, there were no new grad positions available on L&D when I graduated. I took a position as an RN on a step down unit and worked there for a year and a half. I was shattered that I didn't get an L&D position out of school. I hated hearing the experienced nurses say "Get some med/surg experience. I know it's not what you want. But it's an experience that will help you more than you know." Damn those experienced nurses and their wisdom! Earlier this month, I started on the L&D unit at my hospital and I'm back with some of those nurses who were my teachers while I was in school. And I now see why med/surg experience is beneficial. Simple things like different types of insulin, patients with complicated histories (we just had two ladies with transverse myelitis in labor at the same time the other day--how often do you encounter ONE person with that, let at alone two at the same time?! I had a frequent patient on my step down unit that had transverse myelitis so I understood the disease process), drug interactions and effects on newborns, patients on methadone (and NNAS)-- all things that are "fringe" experiences in the L&D world, but regular experiences on a step down/med surg unit.

I also am a sucker for overtime- so I still pick up hours on my old unit. I like to keep up my skills and I also like the extra money to pay for my vacation habit. But, I also get to do something that not many nurses do. Last week, we had a patient on my old unit on comfort care pass away. There is something so beautifully heartbreaking about being one of the first person a human touches and sees one day and being the last person a human touches and sees the next. It's a privilege like no other- and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

[MrsSassyLassie]

AprilAnney, I loved hearing your story. It's so inspiring to see someone achieve the goals I'm aiming for!

[MadpeysRN]

This sounds a lot like my life a few years ago. After I had my first child, I realized that I loved the pregnancy/labor/childhood/peripartum period. I originally started off with the intention of becoming a birth doula and possibly an IBCLC. I went to a weekend doula training seminar with a friend (who is now a post partum doula). While the experience was amazing, it left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Doula certification requires tons of hours of research, birth experiences, and work- but when it comes down to it, a doula cannot educate a patient (and understandably so--they are not technically licensed professionals even though they are sometimes just as educated, if not more, than OB nurses). I had a very frank discussion with the leader of the doula training course (I think we both rubbed each other the wrong way from the get-go) that resulted in me enrolling in nursing prerequisites the day after I finished the doula training seminar.

Four years later, I graduated with my BSN. I absolutely adored my OB clinical and was so lucky to be placed at the exact practicum location I wanted- the L&D floor at the hospital I wanted to work at (I was a PCT at the hopsital at the time on the float unit getting mainly med/surg experience). However, there were no new grad positions available on L&D when I graduated. I took a position as an RN on a step down unit and worked there for a year and a half. I was shattered that I didn't get an L&D position out of school. I hated hearing the experienced nurses say "Get some med/surg experience. I know it's not what you want. But it's an experience that will help you more than you know." Damn those experienced nurses and their wisdom! Earlier this month, I started on the L&D unit at my hospital and I'm back with some of those nurses who were my teachers while I was in school. And I now see why med/surg experience is beneficial. Simple things like different types of insulin, patients with complicated histories (we just had two ladies with transverse myelitis in labor at the same time the other day--how often do you encounter ONE person with that, let at alone two at the same time?! I had a frequent patient on my step down unit that had transverse myelitis so I understood the disease process), drug interactions and effects on newborns, patients on methadone (and NNAS)-- all things that are "fringe" experiences in the L&D world, but regular experiences on a step down/med surg unit.

I also am a sucker for overtime- so I still pick up hours on my old unit. I like to keep up my skills and I also like the extra money to pay for my vacation habit. But, I also get to do something that not many nurses do. Last week, we had a patient on my old unit on comfort care pass away. There is something so beautifully heartbreaking about being one of the first person a human touches and sees one day and being the last person a human touches and sees the next. It's a privilege like no other- and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I wonder if this is a sign, I pick up on my old floor also. I just got done talking to a coworker about trying labor and delivery and our conversation ended up me telling about often my most gratifying times a bedside M/S nurse were when I had patients on comfort care. I think this may be a sign I just so happened to just out all nurses today after months and months of not being on here and happen to cross this thread..[emoji119]🏻[emoji120]🏻

[nurse.j., ASN, BSN, MSN]

I know this an old thread but my heart keeps calling me to L&D or M/B. After having an amazing experience at a wonderful hospital with my second birth, I knew I wanted to go back to pursuing my dream of being an OB nurse. I just am not entirely sure how to get there because "I don't fit the mold".

I graduated in June 2013, with my senior practicuum experience in Pediatric Nursing. After a terrible experience in the pediatric ED, I had no idea where to go in nursing. M/B was something I had always loved but was highly discouraged to begin my career there, so I settled for a step down unit as my first job. It was a crazy, stressful, surreal year and half! Though the knowledge I had gained was infallible, I was burnt out so quickly due to a continually short staffed unit and increasing ratios/acuities of patients. I had a friend introduce me to the field of home health nursing and the schedule appeal and no weekends drew me in. I began as a home health case manager RN, working with mostly geriatric patients. A month after I started my job, I found out I was pregnant with my second child.

The job was amazing for the flexibility with my then 4 year old son, and the days I wasn't feeling well due to being pregnant I could schedule my patients around that. It was great - for a while. However, I never stopped working. Always answering emails, phone calls, scheduling, paperwork, somehow still even on my days off. After I returned to work from maternity leave, I decided to just work per diem to lighten my load of work, now with having two children and a household to manage with my husband. However, it's the same thing still...not only do I never stop working, I'm no longer fulfilled by my job. My heart still keeps calling me to OB nursing.

I've applied to some jobs but never get any bites. I have been recently looking into doula training and then possibly midwifery. Would the doula training help my resume when applying to L&D jobs? All of them seem to require experience. Any knowledge or advice is greatly appreciated!