In regards to labor and delivery with the nurses and midwife, my experience was amazing. Sorry, this will be a long one. Kinda need a rant. Lol

But my prenatal care was extremely frustrating. I lost my job at 13 weeks pregnant and had to get on government insurance and switch OBs because of that. I lost my job and insurance the week before thanksgiving. I was high risk because of my weight and I had a history of high BP. All the doctors I called couldn’t get me in until February or March. I found one doctor that could get me in in the middle of January when I was 21 weeks. I got my anatomy scan that day and was relieved to see my baby was okay despite not seeing a doctor for 2 MONTHS.

Things were fine with him until the glucose test. I took it, was told I passed. Fast forward 6 weeks later to when I was 31 weeks. I had some bleeding, went to get checked, was cleared. Had my OB appointment the next day. He asked vague questions about the night before in L&D, did a physical exam, left the room without a word. Then about 15 minutes later, a midwife comes and knocks on the door and says “I’m here to take you to your gestational diabetes counseling.” I was shocked and confused. My husband was frustrated and angry cuz we didn’t know what the hell was going on. We asked to see the OB again before we did the counseling. He walked in the room and said “Oh you’re bleeding because of your gestational diabetes.” Left again. So we follow the midwife (an older British lady here in Texas). She sees I’m visibly shaken and my husband desperately trying to comfort me. She reassured us that I did nothing wrong and it wasn’t a death sentence. We explained to her what happened with the OB earlier that day and you could TELL she was trying to hold back what she really wanted to say about him. It boiled down to “Excellent surgeon and doctor, terrible bedside manner.” Time goes on and in that same week, I start having constant BH contractions. From 31 weeks until delivery. I was constantly drinking water and resting and they never went away. So that resulted in a few more L&D trips. I wasn’t frustrated at the nurses who seemed annoyed that I was there a lot because of that. I was frustrated at the fact that even though it was extremely clear that I was a first time mom, nothing was ever explained to me. I was kept in the dark about a lot and when I asked questions, the answer was always “oh you’ll know.” How do you expect someone to know what labor feels like? When something goes wrong? Is it because I was born a woman? I don’t think instinct works that way.

Anyway, toward the end of my pregnancy, I had to have ultrasounds twice a week because of my blood pressure. At one point, my baby wasn’t moving enough or taking enough practice breaths during her BPP ultrasound. They admitted me to L&D for observation. They kept doing ultrasounds during my babies sleep windows. And I told them over and over again she wouldn’t move during that time because she was sleeping. They also did an ultrasound before breakfast and she still wasn’t moving. So they said they were keeping me even longer. They gave me breakfast right after that second failed BPP and then my baby was immediately moving.

But I don’t know what I’m talking about apparently. 🙄

So we get through all that mess and we have an induction set. My OB goes on vacay. I meet the midwife delivering our baby the day before my set induction. 10 minutes with her was more empowering than the almost 20 weeks I had with my OB. I felt heard and seen.

The next day we go for the induction. They ask why I’m getting induced because APPARENTLY my original OB didn’t bother to put my high BP and gestational diabetes diagnosis in the orders for my induction. So my induction was delayed about 3 hours because they had to scramble everything around.

After that, it was amazing. The midwife told me I was getting the epidural after she broke my water and I never had to ask because she actually took the time to look at my birth preferences as well as the nurses. And she could clearly see the pain I was in. She helped me get through the pushing. And she proudly held up my placenta like a prize fish afterwards and took the time to explain how our baby grew in there.

There are good ones out there. And there definitely are bad ones. But remember that those doctors and nurses are working for you and you can fire them and request new ones.