photo credit: jdlasica
I attended 3 great births in the last few weeks. A lot of what made those births so wonderful were the nurses we were assigned to.
For sure with my VBA2C mom, her nurse was an angel in disguise. A fellow VBAC mom who was totally supportive of Shannon’s desire to VBAC after 2 cesareans. Just wonderful.
The next birth was at a hospital I have never been a doula at. I was not sure what it would be like there, especially going for an induction. We got a nurse who was wonderful and really helped protect our space. Holding the OB off for awhile when he wanted to break the water, after mom said she didn’t really want that yet. Just lovely.
Then the last birth, really long (36 hours) so we had 3 nurses. Our first one was GREAT. I want to clone her and will certainly ask if she is there the next time I am at the hospital. So respectful of moms birth plan and very helpful and supportive. The next 2 nurses were good, but I missed that first nurse, I wish she could have stayed with us the whole time. But nurses are lucky in the sense they get to go off shift! 🙂
I have written up thank you notes for the 3 nurses and hope to get them in the mail today. I think nurses are the unsung heroes of birth. Especially when they really advocate and support moms in their desires.
Here are 2 stories which exemplify the difference a great nurse can make.
Nurses Make the Call – Nicole talks about how nurses familiar with un-medicated moms, typically know when to call the OB.
At Your Cervix – shares an experience where she advocated for a patient, letting the OB know what he was going to do to a mom wasn’t right. She spared this mom a negative birth experience.
So Thank You to all the Nurses who support birthing moms! I appreciate all you do. I know the moms and dads do too. The extra things you do are so appreciated!
Thank you for this post. I mostly hear about how horrible nurses are and how we want to make your birth experience bad. And for a lot of nurses this is just not true. We want you to have the best birth experience and outcome possible! So Thank You!
Thank YOU for all that you do as well. I LOVE it when a mother is informed and accompanied by a supportive team including a wonderful doula. If ALL of us doula, nurse, birth attendant, midwife, apprentice, doctor did OUR jobs well and didn’t get intimidated, or feel slighted by the other birth would be such a better experience for every woman. We each have a different and important role in the process. One day… one day… we can only pray one day… :-))