Pregnant Before Clinicals

[jwoodru]

I will be a first time mom due in August '13 right before I start my clinicals. I was wondering if anyone else has gone through this or if anyone who has small children can shed some light on what I should be preparing for with a newborn baby and being a first time mother during clinicals. I've also thought strongly about pushing my clinicals back a semester to Spring. Any suggestions??

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

It really depends on a lot of factors. If you have a natural birth, physically you may be just fine for clinicals. If you have a c-section, you have to recover from surgury, and the doctors probably wont sign off on that for 4-6 weeks. At that point, I'd say pushing clinicals a semester will be necessary.

Lets be optimistic and say you have an uncomplicated lady partsl delivery and physically you're ready for clinicals. You have the added stress of a newborn. Being a first time mom is NOT easy. It took me a few weeks to acclimate, and to feel like a human being again. There are a lot of overwhelming emotions that flood you when you have a baby for the first time. Some people handle them great and are ready to roll in a couple of days. For me, I never would have been ready to go to school or work so soon after giving birth (I did have a c-section). Newborns are up every couple of hours to eat, and the broken sleep can wear you down, fast.

Are you going to be breastfeeding? If so, you'll need to work out a pumping schedule with your clinical instructor.

Do you have a good support system for the baby already?? Is your husband planning on taking some nights so you can get some rest? That will help more than you know!

Lastly, and NOT least, do you want to miss the first few months of your precious baby's life? They change so much in that first few months (well, the first few years!) and I'm afraid you might regret not being there to spend those early days with your newborn.

It's ultimately up to you.