So I’d been on the labour ward for two very long and tiring 12 hour shifts, on my the third and final day of the week the ward manager proclaims it’s my time to deliver a baby! I felt very nervous then, especially as the midwife I’d been told to work with wasn’t very sure about it having just been qualified herself. Instead of freaking out, I accepted. I knew it was going to have to happen soon, I just didn’t think it would be coming now.
The mother’s epidural had already started working by the time I arrived and she seemed happy and relaxed. Being her second baby she wasn’t the anxious first time mum. We knew she was 4-5cm and of course didn’t know how much longer her labour could be, as with all, and so the waiting game was in session. Mum was sleepy so I let her sleep, only disturbing her for the routine temperature and blood pressure takings (something I’m growing so accustomed to now). I read her notes a few times over, each time understanding a little more of midwifery shorthand and doctors scrawls. A lot of fiddling with the CTG machine to stop it making the alarming noises that were worrying dad! Having a machine interpret the natural human body patterns will always seem to me to be strange... Why interfere with nature in the first place?
When the time came for mama to start pushing, she couldn’t feel much... but with some good (directed) pushes baby came down very quickly. Even if I don’t like ‘purple pushing’ (take a deep breath, close your mouth and push, no, don’t make a sound) unfortunately most women with an epidural are unable to feel their bodies telling them to push and need this coaching... When baby was nearly here another more senior midwife came in to help, she was great! As the midwife I was working with felt unsure about teaching a student, this midwife knew just what to do! She grabbed my arm and hand from where it was hovering apprehensively over the midwife’s hand and placed it in the correct position on the other side of the baby’s head. At this point I wasn’t really sure what my hand was meant to be doing... I let it support babies head and apply a little pressure, it felt about right. I followed the action of the other midwife as best I could, concentrating as if my life depended on it! ‘Pant, pant, pant’ was being instructed alongside ‘now a little push’ as the baby’s head slowly emerged into the world, squashed and looking rather displeased with its fortune! I noted its slow rotation as the midwife hooked her finger round the cord and pulled it over the baby’s head. The next push was the final as me and the midwife wriggled the babies shoulders free and the rest of her body flew out with a big gush of amniotic fluid-which I noticed with surprise was warm, of course, but this was something I’d never thought of before! Baby was out! Everyone was smiling with joy as me and the midwife fumbled with cord clamps and I handed dad the scissors to perform his ritualistic task. A beautiful and big healthy girl, with generous Apgars of 9 and 10, was new in the world and I’d been a part of her entrance. I was and will remain forever delighted with my first participation in a birth!
However, a midwives work does not finish there. As the primary midwife went off to get a number for this baby who hadn’t a name yet, the task of delivering the afterbirth lay to me. With direction from the senior midwife I managed ok, well I think anyway! When told to apply traction I was scared of pulling to hard, I got the hang of it though once the placenta began to separate. I felt silly when being told off for wrapping the cord around the clamp as I’d seen before, no need for this, I was told; just move the clamp further up. I then felt like a real grown up midwife when I caught the placenta and knew to allow the membranes to follow. I felt so happy to be trusted with inspecting for tears. The praise from the midwife felt amazing and I have not stopped smiling since!
