The Other Midwife

Hi everyone, this is Leigh Wood, the other midwife in the Bamberg practice. I am slowly and painfully moving into the 21st century, as this blog is witness. Anna and I have worked together off and on for over 3 years. I've been here in Bamberg ever since I graduated from the MUSC program 1n 1982. I managed to fall into one of the best places to practice midwifery around. Over the years I have worked with so many wonderful people and helped teach midwifery students in their clinical rotations. The best part of being here has been the wonderful families that I have grown to know and love over the years. Just the other day a woman waved me over and asked if I knew her. I did, she was the first woman I assisted in a birth as a new graduate and employee. Now her baby has babies!! I'm catching babies from babies I have caught. That makes me feel old and happy at the same time. Every birth is a blessing and I know what a gift each woman has given me by allowing me to be with her. More later as I get the hang of all this.
Leigh

this and that...

I feel like such a poor blogger being that I haven't blogged in two whole weeks--yikes!!! So sorry! We have been busy here in the "Berg." Last week we had three beautiful births--two of which were first time moms! Congrats to our moms! All of the moms did a fantastic job! I am so proud of them! One of our moms had a marathon labor lasting 18 plus hours--poor thing the baby was persistant OP (sunny-side up) and she stayed at 5 cm for a good 5-6 hours! I am convinced she would have been sectioned at any other hospital. I am so lucky to work for a doctor that gives mothers the benefit of the doubt when they don't stick to a text book type labor. That mother went on to vaginally deliver a beautiful 7lb 4 oz baby boy with no problems! The baby did a long arc rotation on the mother's perineum (basically the baby did a complete turn from sunny-side up to looking down prior to the head being born!). My student Amy (from MUSC) caught the baby and also did a fantastic job! I am including a pic of this mother in today's blog. It looks like May is going to be pretty busy as well. We have one planned water-birth which should be super fun! We have had many patients recently ask if we do water-births at our practice. We most certainly do, the only kicker is you would have to bring your own tub. The good news is the birthing tub kits that are mostly found online are relatively cheap (about $100.00), good quality, and easy to assemble. I have done several water-births and find that the mothers consistently say that the water is great for pain management! Also, if you think about it--the baby lives in a bag of water and being born into the water makes for a very smooth transition from the womb to the outside world.

Welcome our Easter Bunny!

Introducing to you our Easter baby! "Bri" delivered at 0117 this morning! Congrats Latoya Davis! What a beautiful birth!


Abriauna "Bri"weighing 6lbs 13 oz 19 3/4 inches long

Happy Easter!

Just some quick news for your Easter Weekend...

I am on call for the weekend and will be attending Easter Morning Sunrise Service at the Baptist Church here in Bamberg...that's if my current patient that is three days overdue doesn't deliver! It might be nice to have a baby Easter bunny for Easter...:)

Our Lab Tech here at the office, Olivia, has asked me to let everyone know that she is interested in doing some pregnancy/baby photography for anyone who is interested! She is a photographer in training and would love the practice! She has taken some photography courses in the past and is continuting to sharpen her skills! Please let me know if anyone would be interested! She is unsure at the moment about pricing since she is just getting started. She said she is definately reasonable and willing to negotiate!

The Challenges of a Midwife.

The past week has been a hard week. It seems as though when things happen in the OB community they tend to happen in three's. It makes me grimace at the heartache that some of my patient's have experienced this week. Everything seemed to start unraveling at the seams on Thursday night a week ago..actually 3 am Friday morning. I was awakened to a telephone ring from a nurse in the ER. She said a patient of mine was requesting to see me. I figured the news wouldn't be good as the patient was in her 1st trimester of pregnancy. When I entered the ER suite I found my patient sobbing. Before I could embrace her with a hug she handed me a speciman cup. I knew what was in the cup before I made myself look. In the cup was a perfectly formed 8-9 wk fetus. I have never seen something so incredibly intricate and amazingily designed...pure perfection. In school we are trained to catch babies and provide women's healthcare. Why no lecture on how to help a woman cope with a loss of a baby? What about the sad part of nurse midwifery? I know it makes us all (as nurse midwives) sad and uncomfortable to discuss this type of loss but I think it would definately help us in the long run...if nothing else benefit our patients.
Unfortunately, things kept unraveling after Friday. Monday, I found out that one of my home birthing clients lost her full term baby. She delivered in Columbia and there was no clear explanation as to why. On Tuesday, I found out one of my patients was in an accident and too lost her baby. My midwifery partner, Leigh, and our midwifery student, Amy, attended this birth. This wasn't a fun week of midwifery--this was a sad and challenging week. I struggle with what to say....The love that midwives share for their patients (and their unborn babies) can not possibly be put into words on a page.

Wednesday News

First, I would like to thank my moms for submitting birthing stories and pictures for the website! I am in the process of posting these updates! The birthing stories have been amazing and the pictures are simply perfect! I am so blessed! The website is constantly a work in process and I am doing my very best to keep it updated! Continue to keep checking out the website to see these updates! Also, if anyone has any suggestions about additional areas of interest they would like to see on the website or topics for me to blog about please e-mail me. I am up for suggestions!

An exciting tid-bit from here at the midwifery practice! We have two moms (to be) that are pregnant with multiples!:) Leigh and I are getting our catcher's mits ready and praying that our moms will make it full term. Here in Bamberg, we are equipped for twin births if the mothers makes it full term and encounter no complications during the pregnancy course. We do know that one set is identical twin boys. So, please keep these mothers in your prayers!

Some news from me personally...I am debating on going back to Haiti at some point this year. I am not sure if I will financially be able to make this trip, but I am pondering the idea and praying about it! As many of you know, I have a heart for overseas missions. The organization I would be going through would be Midwives for Haiti. This organization works with Haitian midwives--equipping them to safely deliver babies (many of them at home as many of the midwives are very far away from a local hospital and have no transportation.) On my last trip in 2007, I had the opportunity to work with the first graduating class for the organization. The midwives are so eager to learn and desperatley want to be safe and efficient at midwifery. I also had the chance to catch a baby or two which was super fun and exciting! How many American midwives can say they caught a baby...in Haiti! :) Here are some statistics about childbirth in Haiti. In Haiti, 76% of all deliveries are done by non-qualified persons, contributing to the highest infant and maternal mortality in the western hemisphere. 15% of newborns have low birth weight and 25% of the children suffer from chronic malnutrition. The World Health Organization has estimated that the things professional midwives know how to do - preventative prenatal care, handling complications of pregnancy and birth, and teaching nutrition –could totally change these statistics! :) So, (as you can see) this organization is much needed! I am so happy to have had the opportunity to be a part of this organization! I will keep you posted about any possible plans about going back! I am enclosing one of my most favorite pics from my trip back in 2007.