Yesterday, Heidi and I went to the hospital to check on a patient that got transported the day before.  Again, I was overwhelmed with what a different atmosphere we offer at Mercy.  I know the hospital does the best they can, but there are 2-3 patients on a bed, no privacy, long lines to the nurse station, it's greatly understaffed...and need I say more? We had to pass several wards on our way to the OB section.  Each ward was overpowering in their various smells.  The smell of infection wafted from almost every single one though.  Once we were close to the maternity section, it was easy to tell, because the smell of birth has a very distinct smell, so us being midwives could pick it out really easily.  We were able to find the patient Heidi was looking for, so that was good!


Day shift was pretty busy today.  I was endorsed a labor.  This young girl spoke English really well and I was really hoping to be able to catch her baby.  But, I had to transport her due to slow progress.  Hoping to see her at the hospital tomorrow.

Another labor came in around 12:30pm which was given to me.  This was her 5th baby, her last two babies were born at Mercy, and her last labor was a bit over 4 hours. She was 5cm, but super effaced.  I heard her spontaneously pushing in her cubicle less then an hour later, so I ran in there.  SROM - spontaneous rupture of membranes - was a few minutes later.  With lots of direction and encouragement, she would mostly breathe through her contractions, but not completely.  Less then 10 minutes later, there was head visible, 3 minutes later, baby was out.  The supervisor let me be the one to fully coach her through delivery, which was super cool!  This was one of my most amazing births that I have been primary for, except for the fact that she bled quite a bit after, but we did get that controlled.  Right before she delivered her baby, I asked if her other babies were boys or girls and she replied that she had two of each so far.  She went on to say that she was hoping for another girl, and it was :-)

I could have endorsed her care to swing shift, but I decided not to, and I am so glad that I didn't!