Labor and Delivery: My Experience of Dealing with an Abrasive Midwife

The practice that I visited for prenatal care was midwife based with one obstetrician on duty just in case there were problems. The way it was set up, I saw the same midwife throughout my pregnancy because she was the one who worked in the practice. Another midwife would be present at the birth because there were a few that worked at the hospital and only delivered babies.

July 3, 2010

On July 3, 2010, I was at my mother-in-law's house, which is approximately 45 minutes from my house and the hospital where I was to deliver. When we left my mother-in-law's house, we stopped at McDonalds to get a bite to eat for us and our two toddlers. Just as we were leaving the parking lot, I felt the telltale pop that let me know my water broke. I then felt a small trickle of fluid. I told my husband and we headed straight to the hospital. I called ahead to let them know I was on my way and that my water had already broken.

Once at the hospital, the commotion with the midwife started. She was on duty from July 3 through July 5, so there wasn't any doubt that she was delivering the baby. As I was changing into the hospital gown in the bathroom, my husband was telling her what happened. She doubted that my water had really broken and said that she would have to 'scientifically prove' if it had broken or not. When I came out, I told her what I felt. She proceeded to examine me and discovered that my water had broken.

At this point, I was having contractions but they weren't showing up on the monitor. I explained this to her and she rudely replied that I wasn't having real contractions. She gave me a tiny pill called cytotech to help bring on stronger and more productive contractions. I could take one pill every four hours. I took two pills on July 3 and then another one early in the morning of July 4. Each time, she would come in and state that I wasn't having any contractions.

July 4, 2010

In the early afternoon on July 4, 2010, my nurse brought me another cytotech pill to take. This is the one that brought on really strong and painful contractions. Upon admission, I had signed consent for an epidural. When I requested the epidural, the midwife went into a long narrative about how SHE had worked hard to get my contractions strong and regular and that an epidural would stop them. By this point, I was tired from no sleep the previous night and I was cranky because of having to deal with her. I told her that I wanted the epidural and that if we had to use Pitocin, I didn't care. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural.

Shortly after my epidural, it wore off on the left side so I could feel the contractions. While the nurse was still in the room (I had called her to tell her about the epidural), I felt the urge to push. I told the nurse. She checked me and said the baby's head was right there and I was ready to push. She had someone get the midwife.

When the midwife came into the room, she said that she was dealing with another woman who was ready to push. She checked me and said that I wasn't ready to push and then she left. Lucky for me, the nurse had already checked me and knew I was ready. She told me to go ahead and push. I did. Fifteen minutes and five pushes later, my son was born-just as the midwife walked back into the room to catch him. He was born without complications 27 hours after my water broke.

Conclusion

The entire time I was in the hospital, I prayed for patience when dealing with the midwife. She fought me and my husband every step of the way from admission until I was transferred to the postpartum department after delivery. My advice to anyone who is having to deal with an unprofessional or abrasive midwife, doctor or nurse during labor and delivery is to remember that YOU and GOD are in control of your labor. There are certain protocol that medical personnel must follow but once those are done, you can direct your own path. Stand up for yourself and encourage your spouse to stand up for you so that you can have a peaceful delivery. In my case, the wonderful nursing staff made dealing with the abrasive midwife bearable.