The Everyday Miracle.

Wow.

Last week was completely amazing. I have been on prac for 2 weeks now, and the first week was spent in the antenatal clinic, which was ok, but not very exciting. I felt at a bit of a loose end there. Then last week I was in the Birth Unit. The first thing that made it great was that my supervising midwife, Vicki, is a great teacher and made me feel welcome and part of things. The second thing was that I instantly felt 'this is what i want to do!'. The week was full on and I loved it. During the four days I was there I saw 6 births, and 2 of these I actually caught! The first catch was on my second day, and that was very much a guided catch, with Vicki's hands over mine. Then on Friday I got to do the whole thing, still with Vicki's assitance of course, but I felt like I was really doing something. Guard the perineum, gentle pressure as the head comes out, let it restitute, anterior shoulder delivered, catch the baby, then pass up to his mum. In that case I also got to clamp the cord, deliver the placenta and check it over, and then check the baby over from top to toe and get his measurements and weights. It was very rewarding.

The week wasn't all wonderfullness though. Thursday was a very difficult day. The girl we were looking after all day ended up having a really horrible birth experience after the baby's heart rate began dropping towards the end of labour. The baby was in an awkward position and also had a VERY large head (38cm!!). The baby ended up being ok after having some respiratory distress for the first 12 hours- he was born with extremely thick meconium- so he had to spend the first night in the special care nursery. Then the very next birth I went in to observe (the woman was the patient of a different midwife), the baby came out flat (ie, unresponsive and not breathing). Thank god it picked up within a couple of minutes and started crying, but we had to call the resuss team in, just in case, so that was pretty scary.

Another quite strange thing was that i am now working with my midwife, Ceri, who saw me all through my pregnancy with Ruby and delivered her. I have to get follow-through women, in order to meet the requirements of the degree, and I stayed back on Thursday night to go to the midwive's clinic to try and recruit a few. Ceri was there getting ready to see some of her clients, and we had a chat about how I was going. When i told her i was trying to get follow- throughs, she immediately offered to help and I recruited 2 ladies that evening! I sat in on the appointment with one, and it felt so, so strange. Even a bit emotional. it's like things have come full circle.