Aspiring midwives or doulas - Page 4

[Jilian]

Originally Posted by DoulaMommy

BTW, around here, "failure to progress" (aka failure to wait) would have NOT ended with her being sent home...rather to the OR...so she's a lucky mama!

Yes, I'm glad she had the courage to just leave the hospital and not go for the induction. She's a strong mama.

[channelofpeace]

Hello!

I am working on being a doula. Have my first "official" birth next month. I took the ALACE training and loved it. It was awesome! I birth and feel really passionately about it.

[homebirthing]

Hey! I am Sarah, mom of three small girls and a doula for five years. I am getting my feet wet with homebirth midwifery and I feel so blessed. I have had my last two at home and I absolutely can't stand the hospital, so homebirth is the only way for me. Minnesota has horrible CNM's (pretty much like OB's) and there is a huge difference between the two.

[Jilian]

Originally Posted by Jilian

Yes, I'm glad she had the courage to just leave the hospital and not go for the induction. She's a strong mama.

She had her baby this morning. She did so well, no medication until it was time to push. Then the OB realized that her baby flipped into complete breech (during the labor) and she had to have a quick c-section. She handled the labor beautifully, I am so proud of her.

[homebirthing]

Yep, amazing how women just "have to" have c-sections for breech. But awesome work on the no meds!!

[TzippityDoulah]

Originally Posted by teachinmaof3

Are there any aspiring doulas who have never attended a birth other than your own? :LOL I'm just dying to attend a birth to experience it not as the Mama, but as a support person.

I'm workign towards being a certified doula thru DONA. I've not attended any birtsh by my own yet. I've read it all, and been thru training and now I'm oh so patiently waiting for one of my handful of potential clients to chose me and go into labour!

I'm actually on call tonight for a doula I've never met and a client I've never met. i'm super nervous!!!

I've considered being a midwife in the future. But right now I'm totally more than content being a doula. I feel on real desire to persue it right now. I like having the freedom to comfort and not have to deal with all the "medical" issues... just a little benefit IMO.

are you persuing certification, teachinmaof3?

[DreamsInDigital]

I've finally decided to apply to the Birthingway College of Midwifery here in Portland, OR for the spring 2007 class. They only accept 15 students a year so hopefully I'll get in.
I'll post more when I'm not NAK!

[teachinmaof3]

punky ~ I'm starting the reading part of it now. Hopefully this time next year I can get started on all the other stuff. Money and the age of my kids is an issue right now.

[homemademomma]

Originally Posted by Jilian

She had her baby this morning. She did so well, no medication until it was time to push. Then the OB realized that her baby flipped into complete breech (during the labor) and she had to have a quick c-section. She handled the labor beautifully, I am so proud of her.

good for her! i have to say that the whole breech=c/s just drives me up a wall. it makes me want this baby to be breech just so i can NOT have a c/s lol!!!!!!
not really though.

one of the 1st births i attended as a student was a birth center birth where the mom came in at 8cm, doing great, and then her water broke while i was in the room alone with her and i saw thick, gooey yucky stuff coming out- i was like OMFG- what is that?!?!?! the mw came in, saw it, and checked FHT and her cervix, and said "your complete, and she's breech!" called 911 and mom was sectioned. ridiculous.

[homemademomma]

oh guess i should introduce myself lol! my name is jen and i just graduated in october- i am finishing up my births- 5 more to go (out of 75- i cant believe i have attended 70 women in the past two years!!!!) and then i take the NARM in february. yay!!! last month i started working full time as the office manager at the birth center that i apprentice at, and i teach cbe 2 nights a week, once for my birth center and another night for a hospital based birth center. i have a 23 month old ds and an 11 week old db (in my belly). dp stays at home now. i plan on stopping work when db is born and staying home again, except for teaching cbe, and then when this babe is old enough i will begin practicing.

it is really exciting to be almost done. while i have mixed feelings about the politics surrounding the birth center i work in (anyone familiar with the birth center of gainesville and our school knows what i am talking about), the midwives i work with are PHENOMENAL and the women are amazing. we just hired a new midwife, marina alzugaray- some of you might have heard of her!! im very excited to hopefully attend a few births with her before i am done.

i have had doubts on and off throughout my schooling because the path to midwifery tha ti chose is really hard and sometimes ridiculously strewn with red tape and forms filled out in triplicate, iykwim. but all paths to midwifery are hard. right now i am struggling with how interventive the midwives i know are, and am trying to reconcile that with the UC-ish births that i consider ideal. but i know that UC-type birth is not ideal for most women, and some women need and want more hands on care than i want for myself. one of the things that bugs me the most is constant checking for placental separation and cord pulsation-

but whatever, i have been so blessed to be a part of these births, and i dont regret a minute of my training. i am sad that i wont be attending births for a while after these 5 are done, but at the same time it is going to be a relief to not be on call 24/7! if only i wasnt pg so i could go out and have a few drinks!!!

[Jilian]

Originally Posted by homemademomma

good for her! i have to say that the whole breech=c/s just drives me up a wall.

We live in FL and everyone here is scared to death of liability suits. Most (if not all) midwifes won't do VBACS at home or birth centers, Lots stay away from breech births, and c-sections are just about as common as epidurals.

Would a midwife be able to deliver a complete breech baby vaginally? My client was 42 weeks along and they were afraid of a larger baby. I did ask the OB if there was anything they could do to encourage the baby to turn and deliver vaginally. She said no because her water had broken and she was 42 weeks. The baby's bottom was wedged in the birth canal when the took her out.

Would a midwife have reacted the same way? Does true (complete) breech always = cesarean?

[etsba]

I'm a Bachelor of Midwifery student.
Its a three year fulltime direct entry course.
I was just over half way through second year when I began a 12 month leave of absense to get my life sorted (3 kids, + a lotta personal issues, nuff said!).
I cannot wait to become a midwife however the course has been a terrible disappointment. Its rigid. Of the 28 students who started with me in first year there are only 16 remaining. Many wonderful women who would've made great midwives. We aren't "allowed" to attend homebirths, the clinical components are based at hospitals with really medical models of care. Its been distressing & disallusioning (which is why you'll find me whinging about the clinicals ALOT). However it has strengthened my resolve to change the system, overthrow the old guard and stop folks from trying the take birth away from women.

To those interested in vaginal breech look up Maggie Banks, she's a New Zealand midwife, she's great.

[bionicsquirrel]

Hi again. I introduced myself earlier, but I am coming back to give a little more background and jump in the conversation.

I took my ALACE training last summer and have lived in Wichita for a couple of months, so I am finally starting to feel settled and ready to start my doula work. I have to admit though, I am a little scared. I almost got to attend my first birth, but in the last month the baby was found to have swelling and a section was planned. So, I got to rub mom's feet pre section and sit in a waiting room a long time instead. It was a good learning experience though...I only wish the mom would finally fill out my eval form so I can at least count it toward my certification.

I am really needing to put myself out there, but I keep hearing this voice in my head that asks if I will suck at this?

I am leaning toward becoming a midwife and as of today, DH is really pushing for me to start a program and work as a doula while and do the schooling. So, I have lots of decisions to make. I am looking into AAMI and also the distance program from the school in Ashland Oregon, so if anyone has any feedback, please let me know.

My biggest concerns are juggling children with the early part of being an apprentice. DH says we will work it out, but I feel like I need to pre-plan this. Am I looking to far ahead? I really want to have another babe, but not if that means that it will be 3 more years before I can start anything.

I really appreciate the insight that all of you are giving me into the world of birthwork. Thank you all.

[homemademomma]

Originally Posted by Jilian

We live in FL and everyone here is scared to death of liability suits. Most (if not all) midwifes won't do VBACS at home or birth centers, Lots stay away from breech births, and c-sections are just about as common as epidurals.

Would a midwife be able to deliver a complete breech baby vaginally? My client was 42 weeks along and they were afraid of a larger baby. I did ask the OB if there was anything they could do to encourage the baby to turn and deliver vaginally. She said no because her water had broken and she was 42 weeks. The baby's bottom was wedged in the birth canal when the took her out.

Would a midwife have reacted the same way? Does true (complete) breech always = cesarean?

i live in fl too and midwives are not legally allowed to deliver breeches or vbacs, unless we can get an OB to sign off on her case (you can guess how likely that is to happen- most docs wont even do it, let alone sign off on a mw to do it!!!)

but, breech babies, especially complete or frank breeches, can be born vaginally. the danger of head entrapment is really only in premature babies, or if you are trying to get mom to push before she is completely dilated or you are otherwise manipulating the baby unwisely. if you are delivering a breech, i think it is important to have a trained attendant ( ie someone who is familiar with breech delivery- most docs have never seen a vaginal breech or had much training in how to deal with it), because if your attendant isnt familiar with breech, than they are likely to manipulate the baby in ways that are unsafe. "hands off the breech" is really true.
in truth, most midwives probably have more training in how to deliver breeches than most doctors. i know that we have extensive training in breech and twin deliveries, just in case.

[jlpetitte]

I just wanted to chime in to say that I attended a beautiful and very fast homebirth last night ! Do any of you apprentices/doulas keep track of the births you attend? If you do what type of things do you write down to try to remember? How do you maintain HIPPA standards? I think that was about the twentieth birth I have attended and I feel like I am forgetting things and I know that there are things I should be writing down to review later like things that went well/ or didn't go well. And or we should be sharing those things with each other.

[Jilian]

Originally Posted by jlpetitte

Do any of you apprentices/doulas keep track of the births you attend? If you do what type of things do you write down to try to remember? How do you maintain HIPPA standards?

I take notes. I write down times of examinations, membrane rupture, complete dialation, pushing start time, stop time, birth time, APGAR scores, weight and height of baby, etc. I also include any special notes that make for a nice birth story to personalize the story for the mom. I have my clients sign a HIPPA consent form before taking any notes. The doula who trained me gave me a blank HIPPA consent form to use.

Honestly I don't know much about HIPPA, but I try to keep my client info private by never realeasing names or specifics on births. I think it is ok to share things about a birth as long as client confidentiality is maintained.
Does anyone know where we can learn more about HIPPA standards?

[jlpetitte]

Jillian~ I love that we can share and learn together on this forum! Here is the HIPPA info. I had to read for nursing school- most of it would apply to any healthcare worker:

http://www.provost.wisc.edu/hipaa/traininguwhcc.html

You take many more notes than me probably because your a doula and need it for you records. I was just trying to think of what things I should write down to help me down the road as a midwife, sorta like things I want to remember. Any suggestions for that?

[memiles]

I'm proud and humbled to say that I attended my first "official" birth as a doula on Sunday. It was long, hard, challenging, emotional, and more, and I'm still processing it.

I didn't expect a persistant OP baby, a mom who hadn't slept in 40 hours or kept food down for almost as long, and a nurse who told us early and often that laboring moms do better in bed. It ended after 3 hours of pushing in a CS because mom just simply couldn't find it in her to push any more.

I have so many questions, I'll post some for the more experienced ladies later.

[Jilian]

Originally Posted by jlpetitte

Jillian~ I love that we can share and learn together on this forum! Here is the HIPPA info. I had to read for nursing school- most of it would apply to any healthcare worker:
http://www.provost.wisc.edu/hipaa/traininguwhcc.html

Thanks for that link!

Originally Posted by jlpetitte

You take many more notes than me probably because your a doula and need it for you records. I was just trying to think of what things I should write down to help me down the road as a midwife, sorta like things I want to remember. Any suggestions for that?

Maybe just the basics then, like gestation, length of labor, size of baby, etc. You'd probably want to really document any special situations like breech, twins, sholder distocia, etc. since those are less common. I plan on keeping detailed records of all my births, so I can make a birth book full of birth stories to look back on. It's fun for me to look back on birth stories and analyze them and see what I can do better the next time.

[jlpetitte]

Jilian~ Yeah, thats a great idea! It is very helpful to look back on the births and what went well and what you would like to do better next time.

memiles~ I will be interested to hear your questions. I attended a birth the other day with a OP baby and I'm sure this mama would have had a CS in the hospital but luckily we were at a birth center. She also had the stereotypical OP labor, it was very long and she pushed for 4 or 5 hours (I can't remember- its a blur ). She was a rockstar! Ended up with a healthy, beautiful baby! When your ready to chat/process, I can tell you what we tried and eventually that baby did turn.