Monthly Archives: October 2006

Reflections

By The Midwife | Published: October 24, 2006

The first birth was fast, over before I knew it, before I could even shake. And very special—of course it would be special. The second two babies I caught happened in quick succession in the same morning. One was born at 9:55 am and the other was born at 11:09 am. The first a boy, […]

Posted in Clinicals, Education, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Vaginal Birth | 3 Comments

Push from England to reduce routine EFM use

By The Midwife | Published: October 23, 2006

Here’s a very interesting article from England which questions the use of routine electronic fetal monitoring. [Gillian] Smith [Scottish national officer of the Royal College of Midwives] is heading a campaign by the RCM Scotland to reduce the number of unnecessary interventions women in labour are subjected to. She said: “Is routine electronic foetal monitoring […]

Posted in Labor and Birth, Midwifery, News, The Soapbox | 1 Comment

The pitfalls of blogging

By The Midwife | Published: October 22, 2006

This is the simple truth: when life is incredibly busy and overwhelming, and you’re doing all you can just to hold on by the seat of your pants, working through your clinical rotations, attending classes, studying for exams, and also putting in the odd work shift as a nurse so that you can continue to […]

Posted in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments

First birth

By The Midwife | Published: October 12, 2006

Magic, magic, magic! I’m walking on air right now! Tired, elated, giddy, bouncy, prone to fits of giggling and wide smiles. I caught my first baby today!! Unbelievable. In fact, I couldn’t have asked for a better first day of clinicals. I am so blessed, and so very lucky. The day started bright and early […]

Posted in Academia, Clinicals, Labor and Birth, Vaginal Birth | 6 Comments

The Eve of IP

By The Midwife | Published: October 11, 2006

My IP clinicals begin tomorrow, bright and early, a 12 hour day shift at the Brooklyn hospital where I will be doing my intrapartum clinicals. So, in less than 12 hours, I’ll be on the labor and delivery floor, in my scrubs, a student midwife about to catch her very first baby!!! Nervous? Hell yes! […]

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NYC breastfeeding test

By The Midwife | Published: October 11, 2006

In response to the highly publicized nurse-in at Toys ‘R Us a few weeks ago, Daily News writer Tracy Connor decided to conduct her own test of NYC’s breastfeeding tolerance by nursing her 3 month old daughter in a variety of public places around the city. You can read the entire article over at Hip […]

Posted in Breastfeeding, Feminism, Politics, Postpartum | Leave a comment

National Midwifery Week

By The Midwife | Published: October 6, 2006

Funny how IP will just knock the wind out of you. You wake up on a Friday morning and realize that it’s been National Midwifery Week ALL week, and you haven’t said or done a thing about it. However, it’s not too late to celebrate! This year, like last year, our local NYC ACNM chapter, […]

Posted in Birth Centers, Midwifery, News | Leave a comment

Oh, the drama

By The Midwife | Published: October 3, 2006

We had the mother of all check-out exams today. Not that they’re actually called check-outs: they’re really called competence perfomance evaluations, but are known informally as check-out exams. Basically, you have to demonstrate your hands-on practical skills to your professors by going through the motions and talking her through the mechanisms of labor, an occiput-anterior […]

Posted in Academia, Education | Leave a comment