midwife2b

Until about 6 months ago I was the only CNM at a large hospital in Charlotte. It is sort of lonely. My patients are happy to have me but the rest of the OB community just doesn't seem to be so receptive. I try to do my job and not get involved in the...

LOL I waited 25 years! I thought I was supposed to be a CNS. Then I thought I was supposed to be a WHNP. It was one patient situation that gave me the realization that if I wanted to support women's choices, the only way that would be a credible opti...

Having been in such situations, I agree with Deb 100%. Families need to feel that they've been treated well, their choices respectfully addressed, and their needs have been met. The AMA documentation did not save us from several lawsuits and investi...

We let the dads support mom. I put a chair right behind dad so if he gets weak all he has to do is sit down. I've had some dads get faint but not always when they were supporting mom. Sometimes all they had to do was be in the room LOL The nurse is t...

I've gotten many laughs from these posts! Thanks for brightening my day! I remember calling a resident about a C-Section pt. who was complaining of a rash from her abdomen to her thighs. He came in and looked at it, and wrote some orders, including "...

I work in a multi-specialty private practice with over 70 physicians. My personal malpractice rate is quite low because of that. (I don't have to pay it out of pocket but I could if need be). Depends on where and with what kind of group you work with...

Speaking as a CNM, I LOVE doulas! There are times when I have 2 or 3 ladies in labor at the same time. If it hadn't been for doula care I would have FAILED miserably in providing emotional and physical care. The more people involved who understand ...

LOTS of changes from my first job in L&D (age 20) until now (49 and holding...) 1. Sterile delivery room. Just mom, doc and me. Caps, masks and gowns. Trilene inhalers (inhaled sedation) or some nitrous administered by ME (no ologists or CRNA's)...

I work in the office 3 days a week (or about 24 hrs/week). I make hospital rounds 2 days a week, roughly 2 hrs. each day. Then I share call with 2 other people. Roughly 12 days a month of 24/7 call. Most of our ladies go into labor at night :) Othe...

I've been educated in both WHNP and CNM roles. I liked working as a WHNP but missed the L&D aspects of care. You need to decide if you like working more with "families" or "babies". From my perspective the NNP role is very technical. Procedures ...

ECU also has an online program. Clinical sites are highly competitive. Often many schools ask for the same clinical site. And it is the clinical sites where you really learn how to help women birth. I can't stress this enough...

I absolutely agree!! I know many midwives who have never given birth...

I WANT to be "nursey"; that is why I didn't go to medical school. My patients are nurtured and supported and their birth plans are respected by me and the nurses I work with (even if the birth plan guarantees a trip down the hall to the OR LOL) That ...

To my knowledge, there are 2 CNM's who have backup to perform homebirths in NC. One is near the Triangle area and one is in the mountains. you can get more info from the nchomebirth.org website.

Online education was NOT EASY for me. I am not sure I could have done it with small children (although a lot of my classmates had small children). I think it depends on if you have to work and your ability to prioritize. I got my BS when my girls wer...

So that's it in a nutshell. It's also the reason I feel qualified to say that, while it's terrific for RNs to have clinical experience prior to entering a nurse-midwifery program, it's not really necessary in order to develop competency since it's wi...

Abstinence is best. Occasionally women who have a lot of uncomfortable BH contractions have found relief with a glass of wine. I actually had a couple of glasses of white wine at the end of my pregnancy. I will not prescribe this to my patients; but ...

Signs of infection or imbedded IUD include fever and pain. These signs usually appear in the first 4 weeks after insertion. It is a small risk... I believe it is Have seen a few where the strings were not visible on spec exam and those were removed ...

Don't worry. I applied to CNM school 15 years after my BSN. They pull your stats and write a pretty generic letter that says yes, you were in the program and had a GPA of whatever and based on that they recommend you for graduate school. There was no...

My school charged about $125 per credit hour for tuition; as it was online the fees were eliminated. So I had no debt until the last semester when I couldn't work due to integration; minimal amount at that. I worked full time the first year and part ...

The focus of midwifery care is on health and healthy women. Oncology is not within the core competencies of our education "per se". CNM's can manage certain aspects of cancer: For example if a woman has an abnormal pap smear, colposcopy training can ...

Just wondering where your anesthesia folks were during this???

Gee... sounds like you were the nurse I worked with at the beginning of the week :) Short of tying a rope around the baby's head we did everything I could think of for my patient before we called a C Section. She was actually complete for about 8 hrs...

Happy to chat with you about ECU...

I currently work with an Australian and a UK RN, both trained as midwives. They both are in school working on their masters degrees. They were told that was their only option.