Midwifery and needles

[Hollywood]

where the hell is she working?!?!?!

ok i've talked to a few midwives who have had to do episiotomies...but thats maybe...one in 10 years of working. and only ever when there was major decels and a thick peri.
evidence says - let them tear. and midwives are meant to practice evidence based.

i'm actually really horrified to read that.
i mean, i'm sure i could cut an epis if the choice was between cutting and having a dead baby. but other than that, nup.

[hollywood, tus mama - don't let that put you off! truly <3 its not within the normal scope of practice]

Definitely not put off, but it is a relief to hear that it's not a standard practice for midwives.

Another thing I wonder about is whether I'll always be emotional at births. I get all teary if I see a birth on tv, and kind of hope I get over that when I become a midwife

[The sooper nanny]

I still cry when a dad does... Every single time.
I think it shows that you're a human with feelings, I've never been ashamed to shed a tear or two

[Hollywood]

I still cry when a dad does... Every single time.
I think it shows that you're a human with feelings, I've never been ashamed to shed a tear or two

Aw, that's sweet! I have a feeling I'll be similar. When I worked as a real estate sales PA I cried and hugged the vendors at the first auction I attended with my boss. So embarrassing!!

[Opinionated]

where the hell is she working?!?!?!

ok i've talked to a few midwives who have had to do episiotomies...but thats maybe...one in 10 years of working. and only ever when there was major decels and a thick peri.
evidence says - let them tear. and midwives are meant to practice evidence based.

i'm actually really horrified to read that.
i mean, i'm sure i could cut an epis if the choice was between cutting and having a dead baby. but other than that, nup.

[hollywood, tus mama - don't let that put you off! truly <3 its not within the normal scope of practice]

A tertiary hospital in a major capital city actually. Aparently the patient had quite unique anatomy and the chance of a 4th degree tear was very high for her. Personally, I'd choose tearing most of the time, but not if there was a likelihood of a 4th degree tear, I'd be yelling for an epis and hoping to have a birth attendent with enough experience to recognise it is necessary or at least preferable. I'd prefer to have an epis stitched in delivery suite than to be whisked off to theatre to have a really bad tear repaired, seperating me from my child and delaying the start of breastfeeding. Similarly, if the first part of my child to present was the hand, I would hope to have an epis too.

She does follow evidence based practice and being a grad is fully supervised and answerable to a midwife with much more experience than herself. Best outcome doesn't just have to consider a live child when deciding if an episiotomy is warranted. How old is your evidence that says "let them tear" and is that in all circumstances except heart decels of the baby? I doubt it considering this new grad is fresh out of uni, practising with the most up to date evidence.