COTW SMNET Catch of the week 20/2/12

For anyone who's not sure - these are real situations designed to help you get an idea of what other people would do in this situation, to help you evaluate the care you'd provide, to get other ideas if you are in the situation in the future - and to make you realise just how much there is to learn in midwifery and just when you think you have it sussed something will happen to make you realise that nature has ways of taking us all by surprise, no matter how experienced you are. The women and their families have very kindly agreed for their experiences to be shared online, or the experiences are already detailed and shared with the public, and in accordance with the NMC all are completely anonymous.

Some of these situations will be lovely normal births, others will end up in theatre or have a nice birth with complications afterwards, as in real life not all pregnancies will have a happy ending. There are various settings so don’t forget where you are (can’t transfer to theatre from a homebirth without ringing an ambulance etc). Intermixed with the intrapartum cases there will be antenatal or postnatal scenarios thrown in as midwifery is not all about the birth.

Each event will last for 1 week, with me setting the scenario on the Monday and unfolding a bit more each day until Sunday when I conclude it, ready for the next. However if I am around and basic questions are asked (such as why I did something or what something means) then I’ll answer them earlier.

Join in, make comments - be they practical suggestions of what could have been done, a 'OMG I'd never have done that', a 'why did that happen?', 'similar thing happened to me', or a 'I haven't got a clue - hope mum and baby were ok'. The more people and comments who are part of this the more fun and interactive


As we'll all be missing Call the Midwife as the series has ended thought I'd go back to the 1930s (a bit earlier but same premise) for the week


You are a district midwife in 1937, you work in a small town where you attend about 90births a year, at home, usually on your own, although another midwife does ‘share’ the town with you.
One night at about 10.30 Peter, Janet’s husband, arrives. Janet is one of ‘your’ women, she’s due any day with her sixth baby. Peter is clutching a pair of women’s underwear and asks you ‘what this is?’

I guess I'd check out the underwear - maybe she'd had a show or her waters have gone/are leaking?

Looking forward to finding out the answer to the question, "What's on the pants?"

Maybe it could have mec or something in it - I just would have thought that normal show or waters would be familiar to a lady in her sixth pregnancy.

he's come to your house - you live in the same village, everyone knows where the midwife lives and comes and gets you if needed (you write on a chalkboard (inside a plastic bag) where you are going when you leave - ie all your visits that day) so they can track you down if needed