Medical student doing Obs/Gyn placement

[amandine07]

Hi everyone, I'm a medical student and will be undertaking my Obs/Gyn placement early next year. Just looking for some advice & information on here...it's a part of the course that many students feel anxious about (especially the blokes!)

Personally, I don't have any children yet- I was wondering if you lot could give me any pointers about what you would like from a student who is present during the birth of your baby? I feel that it is a privilege when a patient agrees to you being present during a consultation/procedure, even more so during childbirth which can be a scary experience, not knowing exactly what to expect etc.

Therefore, I'd really appreciate any info about what you have experienced, whether good/bad etc. I really want to approach the placement with the mindset of- what would I want if it were me in the patient's place, giving birth to my baby? many thanks in advance!

Don't even think about popping in, putting on your gloves and catching.
The preceding 12 hours of labour do count and you do need to see it.

Don't stand against the wall looking terrified with your mouth agape and a look of abject horror on your face.

Understand that doctors usually only see the labours and births that are going tits up. Most don't. Most are fine. Take this time to watch and understand 'normal' birth processes.

Buy the midwives chocolate and learn their names.

agree with Gloria and would add listen, and i mean LISTEN to what a woman is labour is saying or asking of you

don't ignore requests for pain relief or anything else - help her to achieve the birth she wants

It is a milestone moment in a woman's life - your presence and actions could have a huge impact on her - treat her with respect

I had a medical student during my first birth, she was lovely from what I remember, very supportive and encouraging.

I would like a student to engage with me, introduce themselves, if you are going to see someone giving birth it would be nice if they at least knew your name.

It's good that you are thinking about this so much, for many women their birth experience is something they will remember forever. Years on I can still remember pretty much the whole thing, even down to what was said by people.

I had a medical student at the birth of my DD and I have to say she was wonderful . It was the first birth she had seen and I hope she enjoyed it.

She was there from the beginning of my being in the delivery suite, asked me if it was all right for her to watch and I was fine with that.

I needed to have IV antibiotics so she put the cannula in. She was very good at sorting out my hair (better at putting in a scrunchie than DH ) and when I needed to grab onto two people she was the other one.

Basically she didn't stand back at all, but I felt confident that if I had wanted some space that she would have given it to me.

A lovely thing she did afterwards was to come and see DD and me in the postnatal ward - it made me feel very .

Hope you enjoy your placement

Please check the mother to be's name and use it and get it right, please don't demean us and call us mum. Can you tell I got called mum/ Mrs wrongname by a whole parade of obs/gyn students at a recent clinic.

Most important (for me)- introduce yourself and ask ask ask for permission to do, well, anything. Do not take for granted people understand everything- explain what you are doing (eg I am going to do XYZ because I need to see ABC).

agree with oopsandbaby- Do not talk about your patients in the third person, or regard them as "the patient" when you are in the room. Don't call your patient "honey, sweety" etc., and most certainly don't say something like "good girl, you're doing great". that is demeaning.

Try and make friends with a community midwife and see if she will let you accompany to a home birth to see how different birth can be outside of a hospital setting.

Hi,

I would like to re-iterate what GloriaInEccentrica mentioned, which is that, as medical students, you are learning what can go wrong (and much can!). I am appalled at the amount of newly minted doctors I meet who have never seen an unassisted birth - it would be great if you have the opportunity to witness one of those!

Best

I had a H-F forceps delivery with my first baby performed by a senior consultant.

When she asked if she could have 4 students whom she'd hand-chosen to observe, I agreed, including watching her stitch afterwards.

They were all very lovely and paid us lots of visits in the ward afterwards.

Please do try to introduce yourself to the patient and address them as Miss, Mrs X. NOT any other term like mum, honey, or girl.

We're people, not pieces of meat or 'patients', and we don't have to agree to have students, we're doing it so hopefully they learn something and go on to help other women.

LISTEN to person giving birth and their needs and requirements.

They may not be in the best of moods, but this part of working in this field.

RESPECT the woman's dignity and body and treat these as you would want yourself or a loved one treated.

RESPECT the midwives and nurses working with you.

Wow, thanks for the responses everyone, this is really useful stuff & certainly will give me lots to think about before I start the placement

yes, I think sometimes in medicine you seem to see the more complicated things in general- and with respect to childbirth, it's the more medicalised ones.

That's a good suggestion re the community midwife & seeing a home birth. I think also not viewing the women as 'patients' in the classic sense is a good thing- after all, they are not (in general) medically unwell and are in to have a baby, not open heart surgery!

Sounds obvious, but childbirth really fucking hurts.

I found that (from some medical staff) there was an element of, "oh, well, pain is inevitable, probably necessary, possibly in fact desirable for labouring women. So don't make such a fuss, there's a dear, thousands of women have done this for centuries, try to have a bit of dignity".

She will be in agony. Acknowledging that might go a long way.

Though I'd steer clear of reminding her that it is "positive pain" mid-contraction. Unless you fancy dealing with the "positive pain" of your broken nose.

Agree with other about listening. and a tip for your Paediatric rotation: Learn how to move the cot sides up and down as otherwise you will look silly. Also, don't refer to the parents as 'mum' and 'dad' unless of course they are your own. Learn the names of the parents and the name of the child.

But you will go far. Having the idea of coming onto Mumsnet and asking. Good for you.

Buy Ina May's Guide to Childbirth from amazon and read it over the christmas hols.

It will give you a different perspective from what you got in Med school and it will inform your experience.

Had a medical student deliver my third child and I still remeber how great she was. She stayed with me for the last 6 hours which was brilliant, and talked to me about all sorts of random non labour related stuff. She was polite and helpful and always asked permission for stuff (even to watch my placenta being manually removed when she'd just delivered my child, which I really appreciated.) Go for it, I bet you'll have an amazing experience.

As above but also mother the mother in labour, support her, if she looks hot and sweaty get a damp cloth and cool her off, ensure she is getting sips of ice cold water etc.

read anything by sheila kitzinger about the medicalisation of child birth.

Be sensitive to the woman in labour. She may go from being very chatty and happy to talk to you, to being utterly introverted and focussed on herself and what is happening to her. There were times in labour when I was completely 'inside my own head' and appreciated those around me being quiet and not trying to engage me in conversation, and there were other times when I loved having someone to talk to.

Good luck with your rotation - I saw a couple of births whilst doing my obstetrics block as a student nurse, and it is an amazing experience to be part of.

With this kind of attitude towards it, perhaps obstetrics/gynaecology is going to be your speciality.

My Ds had to be born with forceps in theatre 11+ years ago and I was asked if a (male) student could watch. I agreed; how else can students learn? he didn't do anything as far as I know, he just watched and(I hope)learned.

Out of interest amandine07, are you a male or female student?
My ob/gyn at the time was a man. He's still my hero

and don't think that while she's out of it on gas air, concentrating with her eyes shut that she can't hear you!

As a midwife I would really recommend reading these 2 books if you can get hold of them beforehand.

www.amazon.co.uk/Evidence-based-Care-Normal-Labour-Birth/dp/0415418917/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qi d=1261489227&sr=1-1

www.amazon.co.uk/Midwifes-Labour-Birth-Handbook/dp/1405161051/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=126148 9202&sr=8-21

I think you'd find them useful for helping understand the mechanics of labour and birth. The 2nd book has a good section on obstetric emergencies which you may find useful if you have OSCEs at the end of the placement.

Don't be offended if she calls you words you've only read in dirty books. She cannot help it.

oh and don't ask to access / observe a particular birth just because the mother is in a 'high risk' category and you want to see if something interesting will go wrong

(admittedly this was a SpR not a med student but I was royally pissed off)

Don't expect the wives of doctors (or any other hospital based hcp) to let you in - it's nothing personal about you, just not really the way you want potential colleagues/friends of your dh to see you

don't go red at the sight of a fanjo, like my medical student did. He was final year, FFS. Bright red he went, when the midwife asked him to look more closely as she was doing the urinary catheter. The anaesthetist and I were pissing ourselves laughing behind the screen (I had an elec CS).

The midwives treated him like shit. felt sorry for him