General questions about labor/delivery

(Carolyn Jean Fairman) wrote in message ...
Jenn Vandusen wrote:
just a question but do you all think labour nurses are mean awful and
don't care about you?

For my three births, I've had some great nurses and some so-so nurses.
I remember getting really upset with a nurse my first time because
she was really in my face and treating me like a child. Looking back,
I think I needed it because I was really out of control and it did get
me more focused. My husband said if she hadn't done it, he would
have.

My second birth was so short that I can't even remember the nurses.
They didn't do much.

For my third, my primary nurse was wonderful. She seemed to really
enjoy her job and was very friendly. There were a few hospital
policies I didn't agree with (laying down for monitoring, IV, blood
draw) and she let me decline without causing a fuss. For the
monitoring, she suggested sitting up on the birth ball which made it
not so bad. After the first bit, she just used a hand-held one that I
barely noticed at all.


I think labor nurses are trained to provide minimal care.

I think they are trained to follow hospital policies and the good
nurses are just better at knowing the alternatives.

They want
to know the baby is ok and they prefer constant monitoring even if
this makes labor more painful for the woman. That's sort of mean, but
I don't think it's intentional. They certainly did NOT want to put
any extra effort into helping me with my labor, such has sticking
around for more than 30 seconds, like to hand monitor when the EFM
wasn't picking up the baby's heartrate.

They aren't trained to help you if you are planning an unmedicated
birth. They don't have time to talk with you, give you suggestions,
rub your back, encourage you to walk (they do seem to prefer you stay
in bed and doing that is the prime thing to AVOID when laboring
without an epidural!).

My nurse for my third birth was great at suggesting different
positions that were very helpful, and she was totally supportive of my
decision to labor without an epidural. She stayed in the room with us
almost the whole time, yet wasn't annoying or intrusive, and seemed to
know when I needed her to stay out of the way. I didn't need her to
rub my back. DH took care of that.

So, to the OP, No, I don't think all labor nurses are mean, awful and
don't care about you.

~ Sher

Jenn Vandusen writes:
: just a question but do you all think labour nurses are mean awful and don't
: care about you?
: and they push epidurals?
: have any of you found your nurse helpful at all? that speaking if you had a
: nurse.

We absolutely didn't have to deal with the problem. We had the baby at home
under the care of a midwife.

Larry