WORKING AS A COORDINATOR MIDWIFE IN A TERTIARY ...

for her as coordinator. This story illustrates the unpredictability and diversity of
challenges for Amiria which compounded for her within a short time frame.
Kouzes and Posner (1995) write “knowledge gained from direct experience and active
searching, once stored in the subconscious, becomes the basis for leaders’ intuition,
insight and vision” (p.105). Amiria reveals she had this inner knowledge and recognised
she had been thrown into a situation where there was no safe answer for her as the leader.
She reflects a sense of helplessness and hopelessness but in the meantime, she still
needed to lead her team effectively until the end of her shift. Smythe and Norton (2007)
describe how leaders manage the challenges they encounter when they write “our
research suggests that effective leaders have a sense of which way to go, guided by their
internal compass” (p.74). Amiria reflects these research findings both with her leadership
style and her level of understanding.
Alice reiterates what this multitasking feels like:
You carry a caseload as a coordinator if you have to. It’s like that. It’s ghastly
because nothing gets done properly. You are in the room trying to get a handle
on what’s happening with a woman or even trying to deliver a baby and your
phone rings. You have to try and think yay I’m looking after someone because
that’s nice, I love doing it but it can be frustrating. It’s hopeless trying to be in a
room looking after a woman, the phone rings then someone wants the keys.
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