Labor and Delivery was not something that I was excited about initially, but I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I ever thought I would. Our hours were not the most ideal, however, I didn't mind working middle of the nights because I genuinely liked being there. A typical day was not predictable. Our hours ranged from 12 hour shifts to 26 hour shifts. During this rotation I was able to "catch a baby" while mom pushed and had many experiences where I could help out in the OR. I learned a lot about the multiple complications of pregnancies, had experiences with delivering moms who did not speak any English, witnessed the wide variety of pain that people experience during labor (epidurals are extremely helpful!), and was able to be the first person to see tiny humans enter this world!
6:00 a.m. Round on new moms who had spent the evening in the hospital. Check their C Section site (if applicable), ask questions about eating, breastfeeding/bottle feeding, bleeding, pain and discuss their concerns.
6:45 a.m. Write up notes on the patients and submit them in the computer system
7:00 a.m. Present patients during rounds to attending and residents
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
During this time we performed scheduled and emergent C Sections, induced patients into labor and then waited for labor to progress, checked on moms regularly who were in labor, addressed concerns from pregnant patients who came in to see if their water had broke or if they were having decreased fetal movements or if they were bleeding or if they were high risk pregnancies. Circumcisions were also performed during the day.
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
The evening residents came in during this time and we discussed each patient to fill them in on what had been happening throughout the day.