So this post is gonna be a short one, purely because I am absolutely desperate to get back on track with these posts and catch up properly, and also last week I only had two shifts, so I’ve got less to share in this post anyway!
This past week I’ve seen a bit more of the other side of this ward, with a couple of really stressful and long days.
There has been nothing in particular going on case-wise that has made it stressful, just a general workload stress, I think. The ward has been full all week and the phone has been ringing off the hook with people trying to admit more women. The Labour Ward was also completely full and short-staffed so we had to put all the inductions on hold until they had managed to discharge any postnatal women who could be discharged or transferred – it was just a bit of a gridlock.
My second shift kicked off with an adrenaline-fuelled start too, when, during handover, one of the CTG traces (which come through to one central system so we can see the trace even if we are in the office) was suddenly showing huge decelerations of the baby’s heart rate. We immediately asked the registrar who was in the office to review it and she took one look at it and the decision was made for an emergency caesarean section. We all headed in to the bay and within minutes she was being wheeled through to theatre. The neonatal team were ready and waiting and the baby was out in less than 15 minutes. As far as I know, although she was born 9 weeks early, the little baby was doing well at delivery, which was a huge relief to hear.
The second shift was another long day, with a huge workload, but it was broken up with an absolutely wonderful platter of sushi made by one of the team – she had interviewed for another position on the ward and she got it, so she had made sushi as a celebration for the staff – so so welcome and absolutely delicious!
I had a few extra days off last week, to catch up with family (M’s brother has been away for 7 months and came to visit us – yay!) and generally get my head in the game with my paperwork and have a bit of a think about my dissertation too…theres a lot of self-led study time this year, and I’m trying to be as disciplined as I can be about using this time properly and making sure I don’t get behind….let’s see how that goes eh?!
Image by Alex Pasarelu
To read my last Midwife Mondays post, click here:
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