The Men in OB Debate: Help!

Like I said. This is not my personal opinion. And not a good excuse. But an excuse I have been given. One of the most highly regarded people in the field of BF is JACK Newman, lol. I have had several male students who were great in L&D and Postpartum. And really the best fit for someone wanting to do OB is to start postpartum. But unless you go to a large teaching hospital in a less conservative area, the chances of being a male nurse hired onto OB are slimmer. I would say though, the OP appears to have gotten a thumbs up from a manager in that area, so he must be in a good place for it. I'd say go for it!

But unless you go to a large teaching hospital in a less conservative area, the chances of being a male nurse hired onto OB are slimmer.

I disagree.

A lot of what you've said in your posts seem to be pure conjecture.

But unless you go to a large teaching hospital in a less conservative area, the chances of being a male nurse hired onto OB are slimmer.

I also disagree. I'll say from my experience that the teaching hospitals ignored me and the community facilities jumped on me when I wanted to switch. I also had a director at the flagship teaching hospital in a major metro tell me they wouldn't hire guys because the physicians wouldn't like it. Had a nice meeting with their CNO, CEO, and VP of HR after that one. Mileage will always vary, but you are correct that if he has a thumbs up from a hiring

Manager he should get the experience. Once you have that it's much harder to get weeded out during hiring because good, experienced L&D nurses are worth their weight in gold in some cities.

I think with the passion you have, why work any where else?

Best of luck - and welcome to nursing.

Go for it!!!!

Many women choose male ob/gyn's - for many years most ob/gyn's were men.

There will of course be some patients who don't want a male nurse for personal or cultural reasons, but I believe most ppl in the present age do not mind a male nurse.

I've actually found that in a lot of cases working in a women's-health space can make men into stronger providers - I actually usually prefer a male OBGYN, for instance, because I've yet to meet one that didn't have an excellent bedside manner and a real talent for putting their patients at ease, while I've had several negative experiences with female women's health providers. It's also been my experience that diversity strengthens a workplace. I say go for it - I'd much rather have healthcare providers that are passionate about their specialties than ones that just happen to match my gender.

Your passion will shine through! Best wishes to you, and as you grow in your career, NP might be a possibility, you never know! Women choose male OB GYN physicians, I'm sure working with a male nurse would be the same! Have fun!

I say go for it! I chose a male provider for my double mastectomy as well as my reconstruction. They were very caring and sensitive to my needs and desires. I had interviewed several providers and just loved these two!!

I have no problems with male providers in specialties that serve women.

Why is it such a big deal for a male to be an OB nurse, but not an OB/GYN (MD)?

I gave birth to my first child in March 2017. The on-call OB/GYN was male--the BEST doctor I could have had during a natural birth. He was phenomenal.

All my nurses happened to be female. But I would not have noticed or cared about gender so long as my nurses were competent/knowledgeable (my nurses were amazing).

A good LD nurse should have experienced labor/delivery as much as a good cardiac nurse should have experienced MI or CHF.

Speaking as someone who had two babies, one of whom was delivered by a man. I couldn't possibly have cared who did it, so long as they knew what they were doing. My first baby, was a giant undiagnosed GD baby (9 1/2 pounder) and very stuck. 69 hour labour. The MW who finally delivered her was a man, and I must have had 20 odd shifts of nurses over the time, and hes the only one I remembered. Did a great job. Do a job you're passionate about!

I'm not reading any of the previous replies and am going with my first impressions. Those people complaining about you being a male and "harming" OB patients are probably snowflakes. In my OB rotation, which was also great, the women didn't give two cow farts if I was a man. They wanted to get their baby out and start loving it. The only people that brought up anything about my sex were family members. I helped in the delivery of 2 babies on my rotation. One of the mothers of the patient said she didn't think it was appropriate that I was assisting the OB physician because I was a man. The patient said she didn't care and had given permission for me to be there.

The people claiming women need more safe spaces, that you can't connect because you're a man, and that you'll bring up rape memories probably subscribe to the current narrative being pushed. They also probably feel like you shouldn't have been a nurse in the first place because of your male privilege and you're probably paid more than all your female counterparts. You have a sack man, use it and be the best damn OB nurse you can!