In answer to HR's question, did I deliver Ellie? The answer to that would be no...
I swore blind that I would not be anywhere near Grego when she had Ellie, and for very good reason. A year before Ellie was born, my other sister went into labour with Charlie. I was on nights (as usual), and had been looking after a lady who unfortunately ended up going for an emergency section. When I came out of theatre one of my colleagues told me that they were just in the process of admitting my sis.
It's not a good idea to get too involved with the people who are close to you when they're in labour. Management are worried that because labour is unpredictable and things can go wrong, a close relative may not be able to keep their head as a midwife and be too emotionally involved should an emergency situation occur.
When the admission was completed my colleague came out of the labour room and told me that my sis was really cracking on in labour. It was her first baby and things were going quite speedily. I popped my head in to say hello but confirmed that although I would be around, I would not be in at delivery. I finished my paperwork from the section and was just going to get my tea break which at 4am was well overdue.
As I was going to get my butty all hell broke loose. My colleague came batting out of my sisters room shouting for someone to bleep the registrar on call. The baby's heartbeat had plummeted to just 50 beats per minute (normally 120-160 bpm), and was not recovering. The registrar ran into the room and the next thing I saw was the instrumental delivery trolley being pushed through the doors.
By this time I was twitching like mad outside the door and becoming a tad worried. The sister in charge at the time just said 'get in there and help your sister'. I didn't need telling twice..... I shot into the room to find the baby's heartbeat still not recovered but she was pushing and the registrar applied a ventouse to drag the baby out. My brother-in-law was sat with his head between his legs looking ashen. I couldn't get involved with the procedures so I went to the head of the bed, put my arm around my sis and helped her push.
Within minutes our Charlie was born and he was in a weary state. The baby doctor was fairly new and quite junior. He was trying to resuscitate Charlie when I had a quiet word in his ear...... 'That baby is my nephew, if you think for a second that you can't resuscitate him then you call someone senior'. I checked Charlie's heart rate and it seemed to be picking up a bit. My sis was obviously worried so I went back to her, put my arm back around her and told her that he needed some more oxygen but he would be ok.
After 10 minutes we heard an almighty cry, Charlie had finally found his voice and believe me......he hasn't stopped shouting since.
My sis went off to theatre to be stitched, the registrar knew that she was my sis and wanted to make sure that the stitches were right and wouldn't cause problems in later life, so we took her to theatre where the lighting is slightly better. I was left holding the baby so I weighed and measured him, gave him his injection of vitamin K and did the first full examination to check that he had been born with everything he should have and nothing he shouldn't. I also made my brother-in-law a brew, rang my mum and arranged a bed on the ward for sis. My colleague got landed with all the paperwork.
I collected my sis from theatre. She was a bit peeved that nobody had thought to do a leg and bikini wax whilst she had the spinal anaesthetic in, especially as she had had no pain relief during labour. I had to tell her that due to shortage of cash within the NHS, those services were no longer performed.. I took her to the ward and bedded her in with Charlie. By this time it was 9am, my shift finished at 8.15am and I never did get that sandwich... The thing about it was that for days afterwards I had doctors and colleagues saying 'bloody hell!!! you're cool under pressure aren't you?' (I hadn't felt cool at the time, my heart was in my mouth and I could feel a change of underwear coming on).......but I must have looked it.
I look at Charlie now, as a boistrous 5 year old and I think about how very lucky we were. He has no after effects of resuscitation, he is a bright, lively gorgeous little boy.
So for that reason, I swore that I wouldn't be with Grego (although I did stay with her for a while, she delivered 20 minutes after I left)... and I missed it..
I swore blind that I would not be anywhere near Grego when she had Ellie, and for very good reason. A year before Ellie was born, my other sister went into labour with Charlie. I was on nights (as usual), and had been looking after a lady who unfortunately ended up going for an emergency section. When I came out of theatre one of my colleagues told me that they were just in the process of admitting my sis.
It's not a good idea to get too involved with the people who are close to you when they're in labour. Management are worried that because labour is unpredictable and things can go wrong, a close relative may not be able to keep their head as a midwife and be too emotionally involved should an emergency situation occur.
When the admission was completed my colleague came out of the labour room and told me that my sis was really cracking on in labour. It was her first baby and things were going quite speedily. I popped my head in to say hello but confirmed that although I would be around, I would not be in at delivery. I finished my paperwork from the section and was just going to get my tea break which at 4am was well overdue.
As I was going to get my butty all hell broke loose. My colleague came batting out of my sisters room shouting for someone to bleep the registrar on call. The baby's heartbeat had plummeted to just 50 beats per minute (normally 120-160 bpm), and was not recovering. The registrar ran into the room and the next thing I saw was the instrumental delivery trolley being pushed through the doors.
By this time I was twitching like mad outside the door and becoming a tad worried. The sister in charge at the time just said 'get in there and help your sister'. I didn't need telling twice..... I shot into the room to find the baby's heartbeat still not recovered but she was pushing and the registrar applied a ventouse to drag the baby out. My brother-in-law was sat with his head between his legs looking ashen. I couldn't get involved with the procedures so I went to the head of the bed, put my arm around my sis and helped her push.
Within minutes our Charlie was born and he was in a weary state. The baby doctor was fairly new and quite junior. He was trying to resuscitate Charlie when I had a quiet word in his ear...... 'That baby is my nephew, if you think for a second that you can't resuscitate him then you call someone senior'. I checked Charlie's heart rate and it seemed to be picking up a bit. My sis was obviously worried so I went back to her, put my arm back around her and told her that he needed some more oxygen but he would be ok.
After 10 minutes we heard an almighty cry, Charlie had finally found his voice and believe me......he hasn't stopped shouting since.
My sis went off to theatre to be stitched, the registrar knew that she was my sis and wanted to make sure that the stitches were right and wouldn't cause problems in later life, so we took her to theatre where the lighting is slightly better. I was left holding the baby so I weighed and measured him, gave him his injection of vitamin K and did the first full examination to check that he had been born with everything he should have and nothing he shouldn't. I also made my brother-in-law a brew, rang my mum and arranged a bed on the ward for sis. My colleague got landed with all the paperwork.I collected my sis from theatre. She was a bit peeved that nobody had thought to do a leg and bikini wax whilst she had the spinal anaesthetic in, especially as she had had no pain relief during labour. I had to tell her that due to shortage of cash within the NHS, those services were no longer performed.. I took her to the ward and bedded her in with Charlie. By this time it was 9am, my shift finished at 8.15am and I never did get that sandwich... The thing about it was that for days afterwards I had doctors and colleagues saying 'bloody hell!!! you're cool under pressure aren't you?' (I hadn't felt cool at the time, my heart was in my mouth and I could feel a change of underwear coming on).......but I must have looked it.
I look at Charlie now, as a boistrous 5 year old and I think about how very lucky we were. He has no after effects of resuscitation, he is a bright, lively gorgeous little boy.
So for that reason, I swore that I wouldn't be with Grego (although I did stay with her for a while, she delivered 20 minutes after I left)... and I missed it..
