WORKING AS A COORDINATOR MIDWIFE IN A TERTIARY ...

knows, provided there is provision of safe practice, there can be different routes to the
same destination. This is the real world where her colleagues are professional,
autonomous practitioners each with their own set of tools with which to deliver
midwifery safe care. She cannot change who her colleagues are; they each have their own
Dasein. A colleague coined the phrase for me within the context of leadership that leaders
need to ‘treasure and measure’. This is revealed by Amiria in her approach to the
colleagues she works with.
Within the delivery suite setting, there will always be the unexpected emergencies when
staff have to ‘leap in’ and manage an emergency within a critical time frame. The
unpredictability of childbirth keeps midwives humble.
Getting the Skill Mix Right
Sally describes an emergency situation at the end of her shift when she would have been
tired and ready to go home, however she had the background knowledge and a complete
picture of the staffing situation for the unit and the wards. There is a sense in her story
that she switches on to ‘automatic pilot’ regardless of her fatigue and becomes the leader
and decision maker based on her ‘knowing’ when she responded to her colleagues call for
help:
Just as I was heading out of delivery suite they yelled from the end of the corridor
“don’t leave!” We didn’t have enough staff to cover yet – it was brilliant. Staff
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