You can accurately measure width, depth, and length with just one hand...
You have a permanent red mark across your abdomen from your polyester uniform trousers...
You only urinate when you wake up and again before you go to bed...
You automatically prepare to be vomited, urinated, and shit on, and this doesn't faze you anymore...
Your wardrobe consists of uniforms and pajamas...
Your family forget what you look like when you're on placement...
You FaceTime your kids goodnight...
You FaceTime your kids good morning...
The drive-thru Starbucks staff all know your "usual" (venti skinny chai tea latte)...
You procrastinate writing assignments by writing a list of student midwife indicators...
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Monday, 12 December 2011
Time Flies When You're Having.... Fun?
No, this is not fun!
Well, sometimes it is. But most of the time it is hard, and tiring, and stressful.
I feel horrible and guilty for neglecting this blog for so long, so let me bring you up to speed....
September 2009 - as soon as UCAS starting accepting applications, I submitted mine for four universities in hopes of getting on a Midwifery Degree Program:
University of Salford
University of Manchester
University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)
Edge Hill University
Whoop whoop! Got interviews at all but Salford.
Whoop whoop again! Got accepted to two universities even before my third interview and accepted straight away!
Started university 13 September 2010
The first year started with six weeks at university to learn the basics; blood pressure, basic obs, venepuncture, physiology of labour and birth, etc. Then we had six weeks on a community placement... which was amazing!! I put myself on call for every single homebirth planned, but was never called out. After years of attending nice and normal lovely homebirths as a doula, it was a real disappointment. However, my community mentors were brilliant and I really enjoyed the placement.
After Christmas, we were back in uni for another six weeks and then back out on placement for another six weeks... this time on the postnatal ward. I have mixed emotions about the postnatal ward for lots of reasons. Firstly, my assigned mentor did not want me and she made this very clear. She never returned my introductory telephone calls and flat out ignored me on my first day, taking herself off to the antenatal ward and abandoning me completely. Eventually, I was assigned a new mentor, and she's lovely, but I didn't work with her enough to demonstrate my knowledge and abilities and my clinical assessment grades showed this. It was all a very steep learning curve!
Then it was back in uni for another six weeks and then onto delivery suite for a long nine weeks. The benefits of delivery suite included the ability to do what we call "long days." For a girl like myself with a busy home life who lives quite a distance from my clinical site, long days are a Godsend. I leave my house at 0630 and arrive home usually for 2230, with a 30 minute break if I'm blessed. Benefits include less travel (3 days per week versus 5 days doing normal shifts), less need for childcare, and more continuity with women and their families. This bit is very obviously the best!
It's absolutely gutting leaving a woman at 8 centimeters dilated when you've been with her all day, handing care over to someone who has only just met her and will more likely than not catch the baby within a relatively short period of time. It's like doing all of the hard work and then letting someone else take all the credit. Obviously, all of the qualified and student midwives at my unit work very hard, but it is so disappointing to leave when you've put in so much time, effort, and energy building a rapport and caring for a woman and her baby.
Additionally, delivery suite presented other challenges. Social challenges. On delivery suite, there is a very obvious (or so it is now) pecking order... and student midwives are at the very bottom of that list! Now the official NHS statement is that bullying is not tolerated within the organization, but frankly, that's bullshit. If you were the first to arrive for handover and lucky enough to get a chair, you are expected to sit on the floor when more senior midwives arrive late when no chairs are free. Don't ask questions in handover. Don't speak. Fade into the walls. Yeah, the hierarchy is crap.
So after that, first year was over, and man was I glad! I did pass all of my assignments with good marks (surprisingly) and felt somewhat prepared for Year Two...
But that's a whole other post...
Well, sometimes it is. But most of the time it is hard, and tiring, and stressful.
I feel horrible and guilty for neglecting this blog for so long, so let me bring you up to speed....
September 2009 - as soon as UCAS starting accepting applications, I submitted mine for four universities in hopes of getting on a Midwifery Degree Program:
University of Salford
University of Manchester
University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)
Edge Hill University
Whoop whoop! Got interviews at all but Salford.
Whoop whoop again! Got accepted to two universities even before my third interview and accepted straight away!
Started university 13 September 2010
The first year started with six weeks at university to learn the basics; blood pressure, basic obs, venepuncture, physiology of labour and birth, etc. Then we had six weeks on a community placement... which was amazing!! I put myself on call for every single homebirth planned, but was never called out. After years of attending nice and normal lovely homebirths as a doula, it was a real disappointment. However, my community mentors were brilliant and I really enjoyed the placement.
After Christmas, we were back in uni for another six weeks and then back out on placement for another six weeks... this time on the postnatal ward. I have mixed emotions about the postnatal ward for lots of reasons. Firstly, my assigned mentor did not want me and she made this very clear. She never returned my introductory telephone calls and flat out ignored me on my first day, taking herself off to the antenatal ward and abandoning me completely. Eventually, I was assigned a new mentor, and she's lovely, but I didn't work with her enough to demonstrate my knowledge and abilities and my clinical assessment grades showed this. It was all a very steep learning curve!
Then it was back in uni for another six weeks and then onto delivery suite for a long nine weeks. The benefits of delivery suite included the ability to do what we call "long days." For a girl like myself with a busy home life who lives quite a distance from my clinical site, long days are a Godsend. I leave my house at 0630 and arrive home usually for 2230, with a 30 minute break if I'm blessed. Benefits include less travel (3 days per week versus 5 days doing normal shifts), less need for childcare, and more continuity with women and their families. This bit is very obviously the best!
It's absolutely gutting leaving a woman at 8 centimeters dilated when you've been with her all day, handing care over to someone who has only just met her and will more likely than not catch the baby within a relatively short period of time. It's like doing all of the hard work and then letting someone else take all the credit. Obviously, all of the qualified and student midwives at my unit work very hard, but it is so disappointing to leave when you've put in so much time, effort, and energy building a rapport and caring for a woman and her baby.
Additionally, delivery suite presented other challenges. Social challenges. On delivery suite, there is a very obvious (or so it is now) pecking order... and student midwives are at the very bottom of that list! Now the official NHS statement is that bullying is not tolerated within the organization, but frankly, that's bullshit. If you were the first to arrive for handover and lucky enough to get a chair, you are expected to sit on the floor when more senior midwives arrive late when no chairs are free. Don't ask questions in handover. Don't speak. Fade into the walls. Yeah, the hierarchy is crap.
So after that, first year was over, and man was I glad! I did pass all of my assignments with good marks (surprisingly) and felt somewhat prepared for Year Two...
But that's a whole other post...
Thursday, 1 March 2007
Doula de Wot?!
Don’t feel bad, I get this all the time. I’ll be out and meet someone new, and it’s inevitable that they will ask me, “So, what do you do?”
“I’m a doula,” I say.
“A wot? What’s that?” I hear.
“I’m a birth and postnatal doula. I support women both physically and emotionally during pregnancy, labour, birth, and in the early postnatal period.”
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. Sometimes I dream that one response, it’s weird… like my old pageant platform: “to bridge the gap between the elderly and young, teaching us that we all have something to learn from one another.” Goodness me! It’s been 15 years since I’ve had to belt that out and I still know it. Sad, I know.
So yes, back to my conversation with another human being that doesn’t insist on reading Hairy Maclary ten times before bed….
After my explanation, I usually get a, “Oh. That sounds good. So, you deliver babies and such?”
My response is always, “I wish,” and then I try to turn the topic to them. I hate trying to explain the difference between midwives and doulas and why I’m not a midwife – it’s entirely too political.
So yes, I am a doula – and I love it!
And my most had conversation is why I’ve decided to create this blog – so you get an insight on what a birth and postnatal doula does, whether it be with clients, midwives, continuous training, research on new baby gear and other products that may be of use to a pregnant or new mum.
Please feel free to comment or ask questions on anything – I am always more than happy to help should you require further assistance. And if you’re really desperate, go to my website, and drop me an email or give me a bell.
“I’m a doula,” I say.
“A wot? What’s that?” I hear.
“I’m a birth and postnatal doula. I support women both physically and emotionally during pregnancy, labour, birth, and in the early postnatal period.”
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. Sometimes I dream that one response, it’s weird… like my old pageant platform: “to bridge the gap between the elderly and young, teaching us that we all have something to learn from one another.” Goodness me! It’s been 15 years since I’ve had to belt that out and I still know it. Sad, I know.
So yes, back to my conversation with another human being that doesn’t insist on reading Hairy Maclary ten times before bed….
After my explanation, I usually get a, “Oh. That sounds good. So, you deliver babies and such?”
My response is always, “I wish,” and then I try to turn the topic to them. I hate trying to explain the difference between midwives and doulas and why I’m not a midwife – it’s entirely too political.
So yes, I am a doula – and I love it!
And my most had conversation is why I’ve decided to create this blog – so you get an insight on what a birth and postnatal doula does, whether it be with clients, midwives, continuous training, research on new baby gear and other products that may be of use to a pregnant or new mum.
Please feel free to comment or ask questions on anything – I am always more than happy to help should you require further assistance. And if you’re really desperate, go to my website, and drop me an email or give me a bell.
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