OB or not OB, that is the question

I can’t believe I have only 2 more weeks of this schedule- OB and Peds is almost over and I feel as if I’ve barely begun. Although I love Peds, the controversial world of OB, my most (no offense to other clinicals) interesting clinical to date, has been a blast to learn about.

My instructor is an incredibly smart, confident redhead who you better believe knows exactly what she’s doing.  She was a navy nurse for years and has been in L&D for almost 10 years.  She is amazing to learn from, and really lets us dive into our clinical.  I’ve been to the OR several times and did solo assessments on mom and a newborn one day because my assigned nurse was handling a laboring patient.  My best teachers so far have been the nurses themselves; some are better than others, but when you get a nurse that puts trust in you, you can’t get a better experience.

I think my favorite experience there, without getting too graphic, was being able to help a mother in labor.  She was wheeled into the OR for an emergency C-section, but it became clear very quickly that she might have a vaginal birth.  Seeing an opportunity where I might be useful, I swooped in to the table, grabbed her hand, leg, and in a matter of minutes became mini-lamaze coach; “Breathe through the contraction!  You are doing awesome!… Push, push, push!” Despite my arms being sore for several days afterwards, it was truly an amazing experience to be part of a new mom’s support team.

The field of OB is fairly controversial- opinions on how interventions should be performed and when they should be performed are constantly being questions and argued. One way or the other,  I feel that combining the clinical component along with the class component has given us a fair look at several sides of L&D/OB.

But enough about OB- time to focus on Peds… and by that I mean, I’ve got to get this care plan in on time this week.

Until next time- have a great week!