I've been a bit busy since my May update! Ohio State is transitioning from quarters to semesters, so the summer term was only 7 weeks, but still full of lots of learning! So a few updates...
First of all, I attended another birth! I agreed to be a back-up for my good doula friend when she went out of town to visit her very sick father. The client wasn't due until almost a week after she was planning on returning and even though it was going to be my very fist week at my clinical site, I agreed to cover her "just in case." I was in the shower getting ready for my first day with a midwife at the clinical site when I got a call from the couple. She had been having contractions for about 2 hours at home, but they said they were already 3-4 minutes apart! So, I said I'd meet her at her house in about 45 minutes and changed from my dress clothes and white coat, to my doula clothes and grabbed my bags. I was about 5 minutes from there house when they called to say she was feeling alot of pressure with 2 minute contractions, so they were heading to the hospital instead. I met them at the door of the hospital and helped momma through some contractions (still in the car) while Dad ran in to grab a nurse and a wheelchair. She quickly got into the wheelchair and after a VERY brief stop in the triage area where they could see her water was already broken with bloody show, they quickly took her to the room. She had a contraction standing up from the wheelchair and the doctor checked her, then we got her up onto the bed and started pushing. Baby girl was born less than 15 minutes after arrival to the hospital! Since I wasn't there for much of the labor, I stayed for nearly 2 hours after the birth assisting with breastfeeding and taking lots of pictures of the new family. Then I was still able to change clothes and made it to my clinical site for the 2nd half of the day. What a way to start off!
In other doula related news, I'm officilally DONA certified! They finally got my packet reviewed and told me it was one of the most complete packages she's reviewed all year and she liked my essay. So, I'm now official and listed on the DONA site. I'm still not sure about taking new clients. I did get a call a few weeks ago for an October birth, but I'm just not sure where school will take me this fall, so I didn't want to commit. I'm hoping maybe I'll get a call for someone due during Christmas Break otherwise, I may try to get some clients at the end of next summer if I don't have a midwife job lined up.
My first NP/CNM clinicals were this summer and were amazing. My AP (antepartum) clinicals were at a neighborhood clinic and I worked with a midwife who has been working for almost 30 years. We saw between 15-25 patients a day and I did a total of 76 hours with her. Most of the patients were prenatal visits, but we did have some annual exam or "problem" visits too. For prenatal visits (I think I did over 100 total) I would measure fundal height, do heart tones, teaching, and for new patients do a clinical breast exam, and pelvic (with PAP if needed). I did 55 pelvic exams on my own this summer, so I feel pretty good with a speculum! I also was able to check dilation on a handful of term ladies, so I'm starting to feel a bit better about that. What I really learned is that I'm going to LOVE being a midwife! I also did 76 hours of Primary care at the Student Health Center on campus. Not quite as exciting, but I still learned alot.
So, now I'm starting school again in a week. This fall will be Intrapartum care and also a big focus on contraception, STI's etc. Catching babies in a month! I can't wait.
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