Family
April 25, 2024

Midwives on the limit: A bad night in the delivery room

The blog: From good parents The bloggers: The blog by Anja and Christian sheds light on the whole spectrum of parenting, sometimes from the point of view of mother, father or midwife, because that is Anja's job. We like that: You are looking for unsophisticated dyeing here, but there is comfort, great tips and clever thoughts.

Night service in the delivery room. There are already many women under the birth site. But how many are yet to be, is not foreseeable yesterday evening. And that's exactly what the problem is again and again in all clinics. As well as the problem that rarely really so many midwives are on site, as it should be at least according to job code.

Most clinics are looking for midwives. This is also what the long-standing job advertisements in the journals speak for. But while searching, it will continue to be born.

The situation is similar with the general care situation in hospitals. Patients can not wait for a station to be staffed up enough. It just keeps going. Also, because ultimately no one runs away from the staff, even if many people often feel like doing so.

Working in the new job? Not possible

A few hours after taking up my duties, I accompany the first childbirth, even if "comfortable learning" was actually on the agenda. Finally, I am even scheduled as an additional midwife for the training period. But this night is for all the constant improvisation announced.

For me that means, gloves and umbilical clamp are just like me and always get lost here and there. But it does not stand out any further in the delivery room mess of wives and relatives. In between, the moans of women under birth and again and again the first sounds of newborn children.

You do not notice at all that it is in the middle of the night with the high number of people in the delivery room. But: too often it is necessary to wait and comfort instead of birth accompaniment. The expectant parents see what's going on and have understanding. But somehow not.

Obstetrics at the limit

When the delivery room is completely on the limit, the doctor tries to accommodate women in other maternity hospitals. Not an easy task, because there it is just as full.

For a woman, the ambulance is already ordered for relocation, as it turns out in a re-examination, that the birth for a relocation is already too far advanced. Shortly thereafter, the baby is born, because children do not stick to plans. And births are unpredictable. That's always the challenge.

But it is certainly not the case that midwives constantly commute between boredom and overload in the delivery room. Much more is the overload here too often the normal state. "We still have to write an overload message," says one of the colleagues the next morning. When the time is right, because everyone has too much birth-related paperwork to do? in overtime after service.

"And I've become a midwife for that?"

Everyone is tired and hungry, because time to eat is not on such nights. But nobody thinks about that. Thoughts are made about how women are dealing with such situations. A colleague almost cries because she feels she has not had enough time for some of her mothers.

She is like us all. She says, "And I've become a midwife for that?" No, none of us has probably become a midwife for it.

The freelance midwives are on the limit, the obstetrics in the clinic too. Everyone knows that, only apparently not the ones who could change it. They continue to tell of the oh so good medical care in Germany, of nursing strengthening laws, seizure surcharges and other achievements. Maybe it would open your eyes to see a night like this in the clinic. I'm just worried that exactly this is not wanted. For then the beautiful words would suddenly be quite difficult.

Text by Anja Constance Gaca, originally published on www.vonguteneltern.de.