WORKING AS A COORDINATOR MIDWIFE IN A TERTIARY ...

Sally offers a story with a different perspective to Irene but with the same theme of
awareness of what ‘could be’ and the importance of wise use of time ‘just in case’ the
unforeseen occurs. Childbirth is a momentous experience in a woman’s life and ‘time’
can be a precious gift with which to support women achieve a normal birth. Time is
equally precious during the first hours post partum when the mother and baby are
adapting to new experiences, touching, feeling, sensing and bonding with each other.
In this story, Sally explains the reality of birthing in a tertiary delivery suite and the
readiness that is required for midwives to vacate a room for an unexpected emergency
which can happen with no warning:
Some midwives have no sense of the importance of time in delivery suite,
especially if they have never coordinated. Some midwives think if it is quiet, they
have hours to tend to a woman, so I will explain “look, no matter even if we’re
quiet, this woman needs to be ready to be transferred out because we don’t know
what’s going to happen next”. I try to make it clear and say “do everything that
needs doing and then if you’ve got time do the niceties and sit down and have a
chat that’s fine, but make sure you can get the mother and baby upstairs in five
minutes if you have to”.
There is always the unexpected, with a helicopter landing from somewhere or we
may have to go out on a helicopter retrieval. You are not going to be able to leave
if you have been with a woman for three hours and she’s still not ready to ward.
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