Midwifery is catching

Ok so it’s a slow night for blog titles. Do you have any idea how hard it is to come up with them sometimes?? And it’s mid-July here which is also mid WINTER and I had a t-shirt on all day (with jeans and shoes mind you).

It’s now week 1 of Semester 2 (well, actually, Study Period 5 but I am old fashioned and think in semesters still!) and at day 3 I am thinking "woh what am I in for this semester???". The work is a lot more mature, grown up, challenging and titilating. I am doing biology, cultural studies (much focused on non-dominant cultures in Australia, so a lot of Aboriginal aspects but also other non-dominant cultures), health care for women and families, and more normal pregnancy and childbirth. I have 3 weeks of placements this semester, which is not too many given that I also have to work!

The best piece of news I have to share with you is that I got Very Good Marks for first semester - 2 HDs (over 85%) and a D (75-84%). Considering that my first semester had a few challenges (read: accidents, broken bones, trips to hospital etc) I am really proud of myself for working hard to get those marks. I’m not sure I can do it again this semester, but I sure will try.

I have had one of my follow-through women give birth (story to follow at some point), and have picked up two more women, so I have updated my totals. Progress is being made, plans are being hatched, and I am loving spending time with my women. They are all so different! One of my women is at the pointy end of things today, and I wanted to share a little about today’s fun and exciting antenatal visit with you.

I turned up early on my gorgeous new scooter and got a very nice park thankyouverymuch! I was early but that was ok, as I had my shawl to keep me company. My woman turned up a little late which was fine as the clinic was running pretty late, and we chatted for a while. I gifted her a lovely pendant with lots of good birthing wishes in it, and we were eventually called into the room.

When I did the blood pressure, things were good. The midwife got me to measure the fundus (how long the bump is) to check my technique. My preferred way is to put 0cm on the symphysis pubis, as this is a fixed point, and then measure up to the top of the uterus. Procedures and preferences vary though, and some midwives are very vocal about their preferred method. Then I had to do an abdominal palpation to find the baby, and where it was lying. All thoughts of "lie", ROA, LOP, breech, cephalic etc went out of my head and poof, I had no idea! I thought I could find a spine (hard bit) on the left, and a squidgy bit (tummy, legs etc) on the right but no head (which at this stage should be engaged somewhere near the top of the pubic bone)… crap. I couldn’t visualise where this babe was, though I knew her to be longitudinal (up and down relative to mum’s body).

I looked like an idiot first year student and the midwife had a feel around as well - and couldn’t find a head either! We were both very confused about this, because the hard thing I thought I could feel could in fact be a head. The midwife asked for the ultrasound, which was applied to find bub with her head firmly in the true pelvis (hence being unable to find it!) and hence unable to be palpated. The hard thing I had felt turned out to be a leg, and the baby’s spine to the mother’s right. All very confusing. And oddly enough, the first guess I made of the lie was LOA and that was correct, though I was saying it for all the wrong reasons .

The only thing that I was surprised by today was the midwife insisting that L book in for an induction now. She is not yet even 39 weeks! I was taken aback and while I can understand the hospital wanting to book near-term women in for these things for rooms and times and resourcing, the attitude of "well you’re nearly at term and we won’t let you go more than 40weeks +7 so you Will Be Induced shortly" was a bit much. Given that the dating scan is +/- 7 days, and babies rarely appear on their due date, am I wrong to think this is a little hasty? I was so proud of L though, as she asked me how best to avoid an induction (hoping I’d say castor oil / walking / sex / curry / squatting etc) and instead I said "stay away from the hospital". I would never encourage someone to put themselves or their babe at risk however!