Having student midwifes and Drs present at your birth?

[Louisexox]

I'm 38 weeks gone with my 1st baby, and I hate the idea of having student midwifes or Drs present at my birth I mentioned this to my midwife and she basically called me selfish saying "why would you do that how else are they meant to learn" I'm claustrophobic and being in small rooms with a lot of people panics me and I also would like as much privacy as possible.

I understand they need to learn but I'm sure there are other womans bits they can look at other than mine.

Does anyone else feel the same, or diff?.

Also do they have to ask your permission before they allow a student to enter the room?.

Thanks.

I was delivered by a student doctor...and I'm (broadly) ok! I think my mum would have been happy for any passer by to do the deed by that stage...

My student doctor was great - up on all the 'new-fangled' stuff my very old fashioned ( temp agency I think) midwife didn't seem to know. She wanted me strapped to the bed and the monitor with my knees in the air and he agreed with me that I should get up and walk about if I wanted to. Also he stayed on through two shift changes of midwife, reassured my husband and was generally fab and interested in what was going on. It's not for everyone but they've got to learn somewhere and can be great. We've got photos of ours!

Thinking about it - I would not mind a student doctor or midwife observing, if they were introduced to me before transition.

What I don't want is packs of medical students wandering in or anyone at all creating a distraction. So I guess my birthplan will say no students though I may actually be open to them being there on my terms.

I had a student mw along with a qualified mw. I had written in my birth plan I didnt want students, because I was a student nurse at the time and didnt want someone I was going to bump into in college looking at my fanjo.

Anyway when she came in i said 'oh I didnt want a student', (delerious at this point almost), she came over and spoke to me face to face, introducing herself, telling me how she would support me etc. dh thought I was going to punch her because Im not big on invasion of personal space.

As it happens, having her there was the best decision ever, she almost instinctively knew what was going to happen to me next, proffering vomit bowls, taking turns with dh to rub my back, giving encouragment, she was like a doula, I absoluetly loved her and remember her so well as part of my birth experience, even took the time after to hang around and help ds to latch on.

IMHO students have the time to give a more personal service, than qualified staff do and for that reason are a great asset to someone giving birth or having any type of procedure

I had a student midwife with me (accompanied at all times by a qualified one)who stayed on past her shift in order to deliver DD.

Half way through the pushing stage though they thought I might help with a ventouse as DD still hadn't turned round from the back to back position. So in trooped (fully qualified) staff with the ventouse, a paediatrician and probably someone else (I didn't care at this point) and so I ended up with about half a dozen people staring at me and cheering on in encouragement!

So even though you might be able to keep out students doctors and midwives, you might find yourself in a position where you have a number of medical staff in the room with you. OK so they should know what they're doing but they will bump up the numbers in the room but hopefully by that point you won't actually be too bothered by them. Good luck though!

It's up to you surely.

However, a student midwife helped deliver ds1 with no fuss and the experienced midwife sorted out the cord, which was wrapped 3 times around his neck. They made a great team.

Compared to 6 students watching my first ever cervical smear being done, when I was 19 and too intimidated to refuse (also in silence, wheresthehamster ) it was a doddle .

A student midwife delivered dd and it was her first time, which made it quite special for both of us.

She kept getting it wrong, she estimated I was 4cm dilated when I was actually ready to push. It didn't matter at all, she was so personable and gentle, and also very apologetic.

I do think it is quite selfish to refuse to have a student present. If everyone had this attitude we would have no midwives or doctors at all.

haven't read whole thread but i don't think it is selfish. i refused to have student doctors during dd's birth purely because of serveral v. bad experiences of allowing student doctors present before. i had no issue with midwifes. say no if that is what you want.

I had a student midwife throughout my pregnancy, for check ups etc. She was lovely and very near qualification.

The "deal" was that she would be there at the birth but she never made it

I also had a student doctor. DIdnt want him (childishly because he was a he!) but didnt feel that I could say but towards the end I didnt care. Also when my DD arrived he was the only person there because the midwife had left the room for a cup of tea, so in some ways I am lucky that I had said he could stay!!

I had a student midwife with me and deliver dd2 (induced and cord around her neck) the only time the senior midwife stepped in was to dd2 breathing. And both were fantastic.

When i had dd1 the consultant came in with 10 student dr's 'to see what was happening' both me and the midwife told them to go.

i had student midwife for DD1 - lovely as she was there all the time while everybody else came and went. Student doctor for DD3 - didn't do a lot but no problem with her being there. You may not care or notice when it comes to it - for dd3's delivery the red button was pushed and 10 people suddenly appeared in the room - according to my husband. I didn't notice - too zoned out (not on drugs - just focused and leaning over birth ball).

Had made my mind up to refuse then on the day was so out of it agreed it was on student doc on 1st day of 1st ever placement-looked very young any way after birth he looked worse than dh and he had nearly passed out! Often wandered if he ever continued with his training after that.

After my CS under a general anaesthetic it was the student midwife who actually bothered to come and find me the next day and tell me all about it, including great detail about my dd's first minutes which I missed(dh wasn't in the room either). I will be forever grateful to that woman, she was wonderful.

Student MW and student doc ( first day on unit and first birth for both) at DD birth. I agreed as long as I could tell them to feck off at any point.
So utterly wrapped up in pushing that I completely forgot they were there. Excpet for one moment when I opened my eyes and saw them clinging onto each other in the corner looking like frightened bunnies, which made me laugh mid-push. So pleased that the first birth they saw was straight forward with no interventions and just some gas. And they were as emotional as us afterwards.

When I was a medical student watching normal deliveries was a big part of the training, I loved it and saw more than 40. Also saw a breech, episiotomies ventouse caesarians etc Still remember some of the women, their babies names etc, more than 15 years on.
Speaking personally I was so grateful to be able to share this amazing experience with the mother and partner-most other students also felt this way. Although apparently I rang my mum and said 'I'm never ever doing that'-managed to not entirely put me off though as I now have 2 of my own!

i had a student midwife with ds2, she was already a qualified staff nurse but had decided to transfer to be a midwife. so she was really good. she broke my waters and did just about everything with the midwife standing by. luckily she could stay with me while i was getting into trouble and the midwife ran off to find some dr's (as i severe pre-eclampsia) so was a good learning experience for her.
i work in the same hospital and now drop my ds2 off to the nursery at the same time as the dr, who was there when i had ds2, drops his ds off too, i cant look him in the face now, its too emabarasing!

I have been a med student learning to deliver babies (including a doctor's second child) and a doctor delivering my own babies. I had a med student in for ds2 (not asked with ds1). I personally don't mind having a student, but then, I personally don't mind having babies in hospital...it is a personal choice which absolutely should be respected and to make someone feel guilty is unacceptable. As a student I was told many times that it was nice having someone there from start to finish, while the mwifes changed shift 3 times...that's kind of the point, I think...a student should be trying to contribute something - companionship, continuity, whatever is appropriate, not just get a box ticked off on their assessment requirements. Hence I would say very bad form to try and barge in just for the actual delivery.

I gave permission for a student midwife to be there for the delivery, and she was lovely - she was friendly and already a qualified nurse. TBH, you get more attention when you have a student - two for the price of one! . But if you really don't feel comfortable with it, they can't bring a student in without your permission.

I had a student midwife present when I had Tom. I think I was pleasently pleased I had her and a younger qualified midwife rather than one scary looking older midwife, iykwim. My cousin was a student midwife at the time, and now shes fully qualified.

Because I had a placental abruption, I also ended up with one scary woman doc, a male pedictrician, aneathesist bloke and a couple of other people. They all joined me in theatre as I had a 3rd degree tear. The aneathesist was german and looked like Michael Schumacher. I talked to him whilst I was in theatre and the student midwife kept asking if I ws ok. The aneathesist came to see me the next day, but I never saw anyone else again.

I had a student mw deliver my first son and she was fantastic i also had a medical student watch my 2nd birth, it was his first and he was terrified!! I was a student nurse at the time so was very willing to let students observe. I was also fortunate that a mother gave me permission to observe her premature birth whilst i was doing a placement on nicu/scbu.

I had a male student and he was great!! They asked me first and i was will i wont i, but i agreed. He was great, he had a little book and was telling me what was happening and i was telling him how painfull it was. He even held my leg up in the end. Then he told me this was his first real birth he had seen, and that he was waiting all day to see one.

But at the end of the days it's your choice, and you do as you feel comfi with. With me i didnt care less about who was in the room! Just get the baby out ASAP.

Wishing you a safe and positive labour and birth.

I had a student midwife who was male too! It was fine until near the end and I was in a room with DH and this male student and I just felt I needed another female there for some reason! A female midwife came in and I grabbed hold of her and wouldn't let her go until DS was born!!

Ironically I wouldn't be bothered, but DH who is a GP said he wouldn't like it - I guess because he might end up having to work with these people again after they've stared up my chuff, very sweet of him to protect my modesty! Maybe it would be different if we were having the baby miles away from home and would never see them again.

The way he describes being present at births as a med student makes me cry, about how miraculous it is at the end when you went into the room and there were x number of people, and when you leave there's x+1 people there. [sob]

I've not had a great experience with students to be honest.

Had a student at DS1's birth. I agreed to it and was happy for her to be there. At the pushing bit she was doing the tugging to get DS1 out and he ended up being born with a broken arm They said it was down to the position he was born in, but I will always suspect that it was in some part down to her.

For DS2 I had a BIG note on my birth plan saying 'no students'. I arrived at hospital fully dilated to find a student already in the room. The midwife took a quick look at my notes and told me she would ask the student to leave immediately if I wanted but it was her first ever day at the hospital and the first birth she would see, so if I'd consider letting her stay then the midwife would ensure she came nowhere near me and didnt touch me.
I let her stay and she didnt touch me at al, which I was grateful for, but she did have to leave before the birth after she fainted when they gave me an injection pmsl

Our student midwife was almost in tears when I didn't want her there for the second stage. She had been doing a lot of the monitoring of my blood pressure and DD2's heart rate during the first stage, but I just couldn't risk her being there and distracting me when I was pushing. We're both very private, and DH in the end made the decision to keep her out. He met her afterwards, and explained that it was nothing to do with her (we both liked her) and everything to do with the way that I birth my babies.

We discussed it afterwards, and we still feel that we made the right decision. DD2 wouldn't descend and I was almost transferred due to failure to progress second stage (again). It was so close that I reckon that the slightest thing could have been the final straw that prevented me from pushing her out. And another transfer would have been so traumatic that it doesn't bear thinking about.