One of the minor characters in my novel is training to be a nurse. I need to know if she's likely to have covered the basics of midwifery in her training.
Is it something that's touched upon in training or is it left completely alone?
Ah - that's what I meant really - so if you were faced with delivering a baby you would have had some training in it? Is it just basics or do they cover potential problems?
What about during pregnancy - is that covered at all or is that solidly in the realms of midwife training?
Pregnancy is covered and I think most anyone could deliver an uncomplicated delivery. In fact, one nurse I work with (ER) just delivered a baby in our parking lot! However, more complicated deliveries are best left to an MD. In my own nursing school there was a 5 month OB class with many hours a week spent on a L & D floor, along with a clinical in a office for pregnant teens. So it would be fair to say I think for most nurses that we get a moderate amount of experience with normal pregnancies and deliveries in school. Good luck with your book.
happydaisy is correct, i just wanted to add that when i was studying ob, we kinda did a field trip to visit with nurse midwifes. so we definitely learned about it more specifically (for a day).
I am a nurse midwife. Was a nurse first and then became a midwife. Are you in England? The process may be different there. I am in the US. In nursing school, we only had 2 or 3 days on labor and delivery and that was observation only. When I was a brand new nurse working on labor and delivery, I did have the opportunity to catch 2 or 3 babies under supervision in preparation for the times a baby would just come out before the provider got there. As a midwife, I catch...200? babies a year, give or take and some are complicated (Happydaisy~midwives always have to be prepared for the same complications as MDs). Most babies that come fast come easily. A taxicab driver could deliver those ones. But even nurses have to be ready to deal with complications. I remember a charge nurse about, gosh, 6 years ago?? who delivered a footling breech in the hallway of the hospital....cause it was coming out so what other choice did she have?
Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions. I may be able to add some spice to the character or the situation.
midwife~also struggling through my first novel, but I have the birth scenes down pat!
PS The one thing that makes me is the focus on clamping and cutting the cord. If the person doesn't know what they are doing, they should leave the cord alone. It's okay if the placenta delivers and the kid is still attached. But screwing up clamping and cutting the cord *could* lead to the kid bleeding out...unlikely but possible and if someone doesn't know that they are doing they should not invite that possibility!
Thanks - I haven't got to the meat of that particular part of the novel yet. The character who will be pregnant hasn't even discovered she is yet although she will soon. Due to the way she entered the country she is unable to register with a doctor and the woman looking after her has an estranged friend who happens to be a student nuse.
At some point in the future of the novel the friend will ring up the estranged friend and ask for her help. She'll say something like "But I'm not a midwife." and the answer will be something like "But you are a student nurse - you learn stuff like that don't you. We need you!"
And she reluctantly agrees to look her over.
I am in England, yes.
As for the actual birth - it's going to be a premature one (about 7 months) and I'm pretty sure that anyone can be rushed to hospital here and be treated regardless of their status re National Insurance - although I need to check that out. If I'm wrong then my student nurse might need to deliver a prem baby, although I'd make it relatively straightforward if that's the case.
And as soon as the baby is born, it automatically becomes a British citizen I think and would be entitled to NHS health care in its own right (need to check that out too but I'm pretty sure on that one).
I'm fine on pregnancy - still remember mine! But I had a c/s so I might need to ask for experience of those who did it the normal way nearer the time. And certainly I might be coming back to you for what it's like at the business end when we get to that bit.
Ha - I found a way past all my problems. All I need to do is get my character a fake passport for one of the EU member states and she gets all the NHS services free!
Well as a nurse in a past life, no they never taught about midwifes, in fact most Drs didnt and still dont think they are ok at all.
BUt I have delivered babies, you learn my watching the babys being deleivered and I was a EMT where they taught you how to do it,
I tell ya, nothing like delivering a baby in a snow storm lol
sandi
Sandi - what do you mean that doctors over there don't think midwives are OK??
Maybe midwives in the US are different to midwives here. Over here (and speaking from the patient end) a midwife is a quaified nurse who has had extra training in pregnancy and delivery. They work in doctors' offices and in hospitals.
When you are pregnant you see a midwife throughout your pregnancy - she is the one who checks your weight, blood pressure etc and she is the one who sees you for all your routine exams. I didn't see a doctor once throughout my pregnancy as mine was very straightforward. Oh, I tell a lie - I saw a doctor when I was admitted overnight towards the end for high blood pressure but that's all.
And then when I went into hospital to deliver, the midwife saw to me throughout and the doctor only got involved when it was clear there was a problem and I had to have a c/s. If I had delivered normally I would only ever have seen the midwife.
There are several types of midwives in the US. There are nurse midwives, licensed midwives, lay midwives...each have different training and types of care provided. The research shows that birth with midwives is just as safe as with docs and women are more likely to have fewer interventions. I really disagree with Sandi D...maybe the docs she knew back in the day felt that way, but ACOG disagrees, as does the federal government, all state governments, dozens of professional schools of nursing, professional journals, and the thousands of OBs who provide collaborative care with midwives every single day. Plus the 10,000 babies and moms who have been delivered by my practice over the last 20+ years. One out of 10 babies in the US is delivered by a midwife. A higher percentage in Europe are, this is true. In Germany there is a law that a midwife is to be present at all births no matter what (correct me if I am wrong, German chickies!).
In the early 1900s there was a concerted attempt to stamp out midwifery in the US, due to many factors, but mainly profit. It is very sad to see that, a hundred years later, millions of babies later, hundreds of studies later, that attitude persists in some areas.
And to answer your question: nurse midwives are exactly what you described in your experience. I do the prenatal care for my ladies, order and interpret labs and ultrasounds, prescribe medications, catch babies and placentas, repair any lacerations, admit and discharge ladies....I focus primarily on normal. If I have a lady with high blood pressure, I order labs and whatever else she needs, review them, and then consult with one of my docs. If one of my ladies needs a c/section, one of my docs does it. This is not a surprise since on of the founders of my practice trained in England.
The c/section rate in the US is over 25%. For first time mommas, it is pushing 29% (the last stat I heard). In our practice, with lots of midwives and lots of docs, it is less than half that.
I need to point out that ACOG supports nurse midwives, not licensed midwives. The difference is that nurse midwives attend a recognized course of study and sit for a national exam recognized by a certain national body. Therefore there are minimum standards that are met. For licensed midwives, there are also educational options and testing options but they are not always recognized and so the backgrounds and education of licensed midwives are variable. That does not mean that they are not excellent providers of maternity care.
I am thankful for a midwife being in the right place at the right time for me. My youngest son came a month early and was born in the bathroom,,,I did make it to a hospital. The hospital didn't want to admit me and well...they sure did when I gave birth 10 minutes later in the bathroom! I had complications after,,,the placenta wouldn't come. So they gave me an injection that brought contractions on,,,oh yay...bet not many women have contractions after they give birth. Id had only 2 before birth,,,and I was able to talk through them. If it wasn't for the water breaking I probably would of not gone in.
Nurses! Need help with novel character
is the focus on clamping and cutting the cord. If the person doesn't know what they are doing, they should leave the cord alone. It's okay if the placenta delivers and the kid is still attached. But screwing up clamping and cutting the cord *could* lead to the kid bleeding out...unlikely but possible and if someone doesn't know that they are doing they should not invite that possibility!
