So in my last post I finished on a night shift. At the end of that night shift (technically Monday morning) we did my final placement grading ever! Eek!
It’s always quite daunting doing placement gradings, but this one, for some reasons, felt even more overwhelming. I think its probably because it was my last ever grading (and maybe because I’d been up all night!), but I was really nervous! Thankfully, I needn’t have been and my grading was really good, leaving me with an overall placement grading for third year of 92%! Really pleased with that!
I went home and put myself to bed for the day ahead of my next shift that night. Weirdly, I woke up at 11.58 and, when looking at my phone to check the time, was reminded that my results for my safeguarding module were due to come out at 12pm, so I quickly logged on to check them. I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the safeguarding module, as it was an online module and although I had put the work in and written (what I perceived to be) a good piece, I was really nervous about whether it would meet the grade. I held my breath and clicked “view” – I got a first! Was definitely not expecting that AT ALL! So so pleased!
That was my final result I was waiting on, so I’ve passed everything for the whole degree and I’m pretty sure I’ve done everything I need to get a first (I’ll get that confirmed when all my paperwork has been processed by the uni so I’ll keep you posted!)
After that result I went back to sleep with the biggest grin on my face; definitely relieved that I’ve passed everything! Yay!
That night I was back on shift again for another night shift. I do feel like I cope better with night shifts now than I used to; think my body and brain are getting used to them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely still pooped after them, but I think my body manages it better, and I don’t feel quite so much like I’m going to crash the car on the way home anymore!
This particular night shift was a funny one; and one which left me with a lot to think about. I think a lot of people don’t really put much consideration into their choice of birth partner, and assume that their partner is the best person for that role, but over the course of this shift I found that it’s not always the case.
This particular dad-to-be definitely didn’t want to be there and obviously found the whole experience quite distressing and uncomfortable, so much so that the mum would probably have coped better and had a more positive experience if he hadn’t been there; maybe her mum or best friend would have been a better choice.
It’s a tricky one, but after I left her the next morning, with her baby girl in her arms (catch number 38!), I was left with a really uncomfortable feeling that she hadn’t had the best experience possible in my care. But how do you approach that in the situation? How do you say to someone that maybe their partner/mum/best-friend isn’t helping their experience…? You can’t really…it’s a really tricky one.
Thankfully, she still went on to have a perfectly normal delivery, heavily supported by myself and my mentor, so it was all fine but I did go home thinking about her and what I could have done better for her when her partner was obviously so uncomfortable being there…tricky really.
My next shift was another gentle one, which was needed after such a crazy couple of weeks! I did few NIPE checks and discharged several women who had delivered overnight, and then it was just odd-jobs for the rest of the shift; it was nice to have a bit of chilled time to rest my body a bit – I’ve been REALLY achey in the past few weeks from all the bending over the birth pool and putting my body in awkward positions at births. I definitely underestimated how physical being a midwife is when I first started!!
Image by krystina rogersTo read more Midwife Monday’s posts, click here:
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