WORKING AS A COORDINATOR MIDWIFE IN A TERTIARY ...

which may involve empathizing, reassuring or alternatively being direct and non
negotiable for what she requires of team members at any point in time. In situations when
she knows it is impossible to relieve a staff member from their situation of non coping it
becomes her onus to empower that colleague to keep going in spite of all that obstructs
her ability and belief she can do so.
Experiences can be breathtakingly dramatic with time seemingly speeding by in single or
multiple emergency situations however there are other situations where time is also of
significance to coordinators. There are situations where women need to be ‘given’ more
time to labour, rather than progress being plotted on a graph with a philosophy of ‘this is
what you are, this is how I treat you’. There is the frustration of having inadequate time
to teach and support midwives. On the good days they enjoy the luxury of time to be able
to have time to go to the toilet, to enjoy a meal break and be able to discuss client care
without the urgency which often prevails.
Beneath the ‘doing’
The coordinator is seen to be ‘doing’, ‘directing’, and ‘facilitating’ to get things done,
always with the safety of the mother and baby paramount. There are occasions when she
is pushed to her limit and may speak out, however the majority of her emotional work is
veiled and invisible.
In Chapter One I described a coordinator colleague who had been part of my impetus to
choose exploration of this phenomenon. She explained that it felt for her that she was
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