On the floor runs a blue stripe and above my head hangs the cosy but practical a fluorescent light. It is the middle of the night. The hospital corridor is empty. The labour that started at home has ended in a caesarean section at the hospital. Before driving back home, I look in the nurses' room at the board that lists the names of the women in labour. I recognise the name of one of our clients who has become medical and so will give birth in hospital. It is always nice for women going into labour to see a familiar face, so I decide to go and see how labour is going. The nurse asks inside if she is OK with her own midwife coming to connect, and I hear the pregnant one shout 'yes please' between 2 contractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Hi, I am the midwife at your practice and came to see how you are doing,\" I say, stepping into the delivery room. \"How nice,\" she says. She looks different than I remember her. But there is not much time to have a conversation about that. She groans in pain. \"The push contractions have started. \"You're almost there,\" I say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The physician assistant comes in. \"It's busy,\" he tells me. \"Three deliveries at once. \" I'm staying to help,\" I say. In the corner of the room, the woman's husband is on his phone. Standing next to him, I see he is scrolling over his Instagram. I shake his hand. \"Hello, shall we help together? He gets up and stands next to his wife. With a snap, the woman gives birth to a healthy daughter half an hour later. \"The cut still needs to be stitched, though,\" the physician assistant sighs. 'I'll do that,' I say. The obviously tired man in his late twenties looks at me gratefully. I still have some time, go on quickly.\" He gives me a hand and rushes to the other delivery room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I'm going to sedate you, don't worry,\" I tell the woman, who looks from her daughter to me, startled, as I get the stuff ready. The man comes up beside me and taps me on the shoulder. \"Would you please add a stitch? Then it will be extra tight.\" I look up and say, \"Maybe you should think about what you say next, at the moment she needs more of a big hug and encouraging words.\" The man turns, looks at his wife and gives her a fleeting kiss. Soon he swaps the chair in the corner for the corridor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day, I hand over my shift to my colleague and tell who has given birth. I mention the woman's name. \"That's not possible,\" says my colleague. \"That one gave birth last month when you had a week off.\" \"No way, I was there last night.\" \"Are you sure it was this woman?\" my colleague asks sharply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call the hospital and ask for the name of the woman who gave birth last night in room 14. I get a different name from the relevant midwife's practice caring for her in childbirth. The name was the same and so was the date of birth except for one day. With a blush on my cheeks, I call this midwife practice where the woman is under treatment and apologise. They can laugh heartily about it. \"Super that you were there on our behalf.\" I then call the woman to apologise. \"Girl, no need to apologise. I thought you were great. I was very happy with you. That guy of mine came back from the hallway with a bunch of flowers and apologies!\"<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Op de vloer loopt een blauwe streep en boven mijn hooft hangt de gezellige maar praktische een TL-verlichting. Het is midden in de nacht. De ziekhuisgang is leeg. De bevalling die thuis begon, is in het ziekenhuis ge\u00ebindigd in een keizersnede. Voordat ik terug naar huis rijd, kijk ik in de kamer van de verpleging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n