Wordless Wednesday

I have been pondering in the past ten days about what I should blog about. I have considered everything from V-BACs to cloth diapers. Rest assured, these topics will eventually be blogged. While seeing a patient today, I realized there is a topic that is much more important to be blogged on. Intially, this question may appear a bit simple and rudimentary. What is a Certified Nurse Midwife? Many people (unfortunately) don't know the answer. Ok, so back to my story about seeing the patient earlier today. Earlier this morning I saw one of my patients from Beaufort. We were talking while I measured her fundus (top of her uterus) and listened to the baby's heartbeat. I could tell that something was bothering her so I questioned what was on her mind. She said she was tired of having to explain to friends and family members what a Certified Nurse Midwife was. I thought to myself, "You and me both!" She said that the simple mention of the name "midwife" automatically had people raising eyebrows and saying, "Oh, yea that sounds really risky" or "I didn't know midwives even existed anymore." At times, (I as a nurse midwife) feel like people think I have a mysterious job or don't just quite "get it." You can alomost see the wheels turning when you explain you deliver babies for a living and provide women's healthcare and you are not an OBGYN. I remember when I was in grad. school at MUSC and my professor Lee Horton told us that there was one thing that we as upcoming Certified Nurse Midwives must get used to--no one will ever truly understand what it is a nurse midwife does. How incredibly true this statement still remains. I feel like everytime someone ask me what I do for a living I have to go into a spill about my job role. How amazingily inviting it is when I meet someone who actually knows what a nurse midwife is! Sometimes I wish I could remain wordless and just present a book entitled, This is What I do . Included in the book would be the following information: No, I am not a Labor and Delivery Nurse, Yes we actually deliver the baby (not the MD, actually the MD isn't usually even there unless we need him ie C-section, assisted deliveries, etc ), Yes I can write prescriptions, yes we still exist, no I don't deliver babies at home (although Licensed Midwives do!), yes I see my own patients, and no I didn't consider going to medical school. Sometimes, it is hard to even put words as a defination to a job title. So much of midwifery is an art--a true longing to be "with woman." I guess my upmost desire would be for the United States to have a better understanding of what midwifery is. So, I guess for that to happen I can't remain wordless....