Labour is not a walk in the park, for some it may be as easy as just pushing & steady breathing but for some it can be really tough physically & mentally.
Sister Susan recounts "What I am about to relate here has nothing to do with breastfeeding or anything close to that subject. I'm recalling my days as a student midwife in England. To complete the course, the curriculum stated that we as student midwives, must complete a certain number of deliveries and VE (vaginal examination).
The first delivery I attended was that of a single mother. To keep the delivery process as sterile as possible, I had to be fully scrubbed up and don sterile gloves and a gown. The mom was in the lithotomy position, but she was not comfortable and kept removing her leg from the stirrup. The senior midwife then instructed her to place her feet against the area between my hip and waist and to push against me when instructed to do so during the contraction.
However, she stopped following our instructions as her contractions became more intense. She did her "own thing," like removing her bottom from the table. The language she used is not worth commenting on. She also pushed when she should not have. In one of these "pushes," she sent me reeling across the room to the other end. My head collided with the wall and I suffered a concussion. My senior midwife, who was busy guarding her (patient's) perineum, gave her a good yelling. The patient came to her senses and within two proper pushes, the baby was delivered by the senior midwife. By the time I rescrubbed, the delivery was over.
Well, I did not get my practical book signed off as I did not complete the delivery since I had a concussion. But when I saw the happy mom with her baby, it was all worth it. It was a memorable experience I’ll never forget."
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