Birth has always been a passion for me. I had wanted to be a direct entry midwife before I realized how little money they make (and I could not survive on it).
I am now in nursing school and part of me wants to run as far as possible from OB-gyn because of how much of a passion I have for birth. But the other part wonders if just maybe I could somehow make a difference if I was there.
Is it hard to (or do you even) see interventions that are not "necessary" pushed onto patients because its standard proceedure?
Is it hard to (or do you even) see women have cesareans when they don't need or want them?
At the end of the day, does the joy of being a part of the birth experience override the bad?
And really... can you make a difference even if the system doesnt necessarily change?
I hope this makes sense and does not offend. I think that nurses are the best thing in the world and I know that interventions and cesareans are necessary at times. I just remember being in the hospital, and afraid, and wishing someone had taken a few minutes to make me feel like I had some control over the situation and helped me understand what was going on and why, and a big part of me wants to do that for others. I just dont know if I am strong enough to bite my tongue enough.
I'm just a pre-nursing student but I am a mother of one, and I took the lamase classes and did my own research, So I was prepared with what I wanted to do and what I did not want, I did not want to have a C-section unless it was the ONLY option, and I did not want forceps or a vaccum applied to my babies head, I knew I could get him out myself. I did opt for an epidural, but it was given so late that It was not fuly effective until afterwards. Needless to say I pushed for less than an hour and When i heard the doctor mumble suomething about forceps, I pushed even harder, and within minutes the baby was out.
I know that Doctors push for unnatural means of birth because it is 'safer' but I think that there is a reason that that baby goes through th birth canal, just like you do not assist a baby chicken out of it's shell, even though it takes it sometimes 24 hours to break out, if it does not go through this process that chick will not have proper lung function.
Out of the last 3 friends of mine that have given birth, only one of them did so lady partslly... and she is 5 foot nothin under 100 lbs. The other's were induced and because of this their contractions were not strong enough so they had to undergo c-section. and those that had c-cection they were unsuccessul at breast feeding.
ANYWAYS. As you can tell I am very passionate on this subject and is my reason for wanting to work in this area so that I may share my personal experience and to those that may not be informed of the options let them know they have a say in their child's birth.
My advise if you want to be a midwife stay as far away from L&D as you can! It will offer nothing to you- as I watched a doctor cut a 19 year old girl last night and then pull and push the baby out - then put her back together no emotion just get the job done attitued.!
Specializes in OR, PACU, GI, med-surg, OB, school nursing.
I used to be a licensed (direct-entry) midwife. I ended up going to nursing school because I decided the ideals of my youth were not enough and that I needed a "real" job with benefits and a steady paycheck. I also got to hate being on call all the time. As a direct-entry midwife in most places, you are constantly fighting for respect and cooperation from the medical community. The combination of lousy pay and lousy schedule was too much. There are plenty who make it work, but you have to really want it.
After I quit (I also moved to a different state a year or so after leaving midwifery), I made a friend who was an OB nurse. We talked shop a lot and I started missing it. I decided if she could feel fulfilled as a nurse, so could I. I went back to school with the intent of eventually becoming an OB nurse.
After working on med-surg for a couple of years, I cross-trained to OB, meaning that I would fill in holes in the schedule and float up when they were busy. I think as hospital birth centers go, ours is excellent -- low rates of intrapartum pain medication, water births, many CNM deliveries, Baby-Friendly certified -- but it was worlds away from home birth. The population is so different. I was sad to see so many moms who were uninterested in learning about what was going on, who took poor care of themselves and their children, who didn't want to breastfeed. There are so many social issues going on in the OB population where I live. I didn't like the lack of continuity of care -- I was used to getting to know my clients throughout their pregnancies. Lots of women are induced just because they are 40 and 1/2 weeks.
I worked on OB as a cross-trainer for two years, then decided to stop because I just wasn't crazy about being up there. I'm so glad that I got the chance to have the experience before I took a position there. If I were you, I would find a way to spend time on an OB unit and feel it out. OB units vary tremendously. As a previous poster said, you can make a difference for one mom/baby at a time. Whether you can do that without having your soul crushed depends on the unit, and on you. Good luck! :)
Zebras thank you so much for sharing your story. It really reflects what I see here, and I don't know that I could do it day in and day out without my "soul being crushed". Hopefully I will have the opportunity to test the waters as you did, and decide if I can handle it. I know that as nurses, we have to follow the doctor and midwife's orders, and that makes me really skeptical.
On the other hand, I know the most incredible CNM that really has made a huge difference working within the constraints of a very screwed up system (heavy handed bad bedside mannered OB, horrible old "fashioned" hospital and non-natural birth friendly OB ward) I've often wondered how much more of a difference she could make if the floor nurses supported her instead of being one more obstacle in her path.
Pinkster
180 Posts
I'm just a pre-nursing student but I am a mother of one, and I took the lamase classes and did my own research, So I was prepared with what I wanted to do and what I did not want, I did not want to have a C-section unless it was the ONLY option, and I did not want forceps or a vaccum applied to my babies head, I knew I could get him out myself. I did opt for an epidural, but it was given so late that It was not fuly effective until afterwards. Needless to say I pushed for less than an hour and When i heard the doctor mumble suomething about forceps, I pushed even harder, and within minutes the baby was out.
I know that Doctors push for unnatural means of birth because it is 'safer' but I think that there is a reason that that baby goes through th birth canal, just like you do not assist a baby chicken out of it's shell, even though it takes it sometimes 24 hours to break out, if it does not go through this process that chick will not have proper lung function.
Out of the last 3 friends of mine that have given birth, only one of them did so lady partslly... and she is 5 foot nothin under 100 lbs. The other's were induced and because of this their contractions were not strong enough so they had to undergo c-section. and those that had c-cection they were unsuccessul at breast feeding.
ANYWAYS. As you can tell I am very passionate on this subject and is my reason for wanting to work in this area so that I may share my personal experience and to those that may not be informed of the options let them know they have a say in their child's birth.
So I say GO FOR IT!