Still in St. Louis

Today's guest post comes from Brenna of His/Hers in the great North West! She and her husband David are loving the people of Seattle with their beautiful little side kick, Flannery. I asked Brenna to share a snapshot of her experience as a labor and delivery nurse. With a job like that, I have learned that an entire series could be devoted to this topic, but a snap shot is all we have time for. And so:

I am a Labor and Delivery nurse at a hospital in Seattle. With childbirth comes choice, and therefore, controversy. Whether home or hospital, medicated or non-medicated, doctor or midwife, we can all find a common ground when focusing on the outcome instead of the method.

The ultimate goals of a birth should be first, a healthy mom and babe, followed closely by a happy mom and babe. Thankfully, there are countless deliveries at both home and hospital that succeed in these goals. However, there are also those that fail, and the outcome can be emotionally and physically devastating.

My concern with hospital births is that they can sway too far towards healthy and away from happy, while homebirths can sway too far towards happy and away from healthy. As with much in life, it is difficult to keep a balance.

So what does that mean for me? I have no ambition to reform the birth profession. I wish. I barely have the ambition to go to work for my one scheduled shift a week. However, I do have the ambition to accomplish the goal of healthy and happy mom and baby for each and every one of my patients. It is my duty, my purpose, and my passion. But what a task that can be!

I feel blessed by my job. It challenges me intellectually and emotionally. It allows me the flexibility to be home with my daughter. It pays the bills. But my job isn’t about me – and that is what so many people in this profession often forget. It is about the families that are forming, the lives emerging and the lives that will be forever changed. It is about those moments in time that will never be forgotten. And hopefully, that is something we can all agree on.