Post Partum VS. L&D

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Hi,

i have two job offers. One is for a day L&D position. The other is for a night post partum position.

My long term goal is to become a midwife.

Job 1 (day L&D): 35 min commute, ok wage

job 2 (night PP): 1 hour commute, $13 more an hour than job 1, best paying hospital in my city

Both jobs are the same union, so same benefits and tuition reimbursement. Both jobs are reputable fancy NYC hospitals.

I am deliberating the pros and cons and would highly value insight on this forum. My long term goal matters. I know I will learn a lot of valuable skills on both floors, but I really would appreciate people chiming in.

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Specializes in OB.

If you PM me and tell me the hospitals, I can give you some insight. I worked at a couple different NYC hospital as a postpartum nurse and at my first job as a midwife in NYC as well.

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22 minutes ago, LibraSunCNM said:

If you PM me and tell me the hospitals, I can give you some insight. I worked at a couple different NYC hospital as a postpartum nurse and at my first job as a midwife in NYC as well.

Thanks I PMed you

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

I was going to say definitely take the L&D position, until I read about the $13/hour difference. How important is the money? Can you live okay on the L&D wage? That would be the better option if your goal is CNM.

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9 minutes ago, klone said:

I was going to say definitely take the L&D position, until I read about the $13/hour difference. How important is the money? Can you live okay on the L&D wage? That would be the better option if your goal is CNM.

It is an okay wage, and I can always reapply to hospital 2 if I really don’t like hospital 1. I think the more confusing part is how much will I actually learn about becoming a midwife on an L&D floor with no midwives. Would PP be better, as I plan to work this job through midwifery school, when considering what I’ll be learning, stress levels, my job matching my values, etc. I feel very uncomfortable with the prospect of feeling like I am pushing women to make choices because of the culture of the hospital on an L&D floor. On PP there would be more teaching and breast feeding support and less implications regarding personal autonomy and choice and being an advocate for that. I just don’t want to be discouraged working on L&D, and I really love physiological, unmedicated birth and that is what I am working towards becoming a midwife for.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

No, you will definitely learn more useful skills as a midwife working as an L&D nurse. Even when there's no midwives there. Sometimes, ESPECIALLY if there's no midwives there (because you will likely be managing the entire labor and calling in the OB when the head's on the perineum to come for delivery).

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1 minute ago, klone said:

No, you will definitely learn more useful skills as a midwife working as an L&D nurse. Even when there's no midwives there. Sometimes, ESPECIALLY if there's no midwives there (because you will likely be managing the entire labor and calling in the OB when the head's on the perineum to come for delivery).

Thanks for the insight, I really appreciate it.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

You don't need to push women to do anything. As a nurse, your job is to let her know her options, let her know the risks and benefits of her various options, let her know that she has AUTONOMY and can decline any intervention, and that is her right. That is your DUTY as a nurse.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

I also think it's beneficial to a midwive's education to see "the other side" and see what highly managed, medicalized births look like, and how to work within that paradigm. Because in reality, you will likely be working alongside OBs, in a hospital setting, and there will be some give and take required. Unless you're hoping to go into private practice in an FSBC or home birth setting.

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5 minutes ago, klone said:

I also think it's beneficial to a midwive's education to see "the other side" and see what highly managed, medicalized births look like, and how to work within that paradigm. Because in reality, you will likely be working alongside OBs, in a hospital setting, and there will be some give and take required. Unless you're hoping to go into private practice in an FSBC or home birth setting.

My goal is home birth or birth center. I understand what my role is as a nurse, but the caesarean rate is quite high in almost every hospital in the city where I live and there is a strong push for medicalized birth, so my point was that I will be working within that culture.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Good luck in your decision. I still think the L&D position would be better for your career goals, and I think working within a highly medicalized facility will actually help you be a better CNM, if only because it will help you know what you DON'T want to do, and how to avoid it.

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1 hour ago, klone said:

Good luck in your decision. I still think the L&D position would be better for your career goals, and I think working within a highly medicalized facility will actually help you be a better CNM, if only because it will help you know what you DON'T want to do, and how to avoid it.

Thank you. That is a valuable point and something to seriously consider.

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