1 day to lockdown

Today was supposed to be a recovery day after a night birth (translates as: sleep in; eat too much; try to go back to sleep; watch Jamie in Outlander; yell at children to be more help as I’ve “been up ALL night” and general mooching around.

Technically I did stay home all day and didn’t get called out. But the rest went to the dogs. Woken at 8 with first phonecall, pathlab now shut, no way to get urgent bloods done - can I deliver last nights to Waikato myself - um sure if I have to? Where are they now? With pathlab but lost in their system she tells me. Awesome. shall I give my own blood so there is an actual sample 🤣? Next call from a client who was just told she cant have her scan for Down Syndrome screening as not considered a necessity. Powerless to do anything about that one I’m afraid. But it’s a whole different mind set for women to get their head around. And a whole lot of calming down required by me. They have since decided all obstetric ultrasounds are necessary so a huge relief there.

But some of my clients will now be travelling 2 hours into Hamilton to get their blood tests done. So sorting out these logistical changes to our practice when I looked at my phone log just now took 12 calls, 6 emails, 2 faxes (yes we still pay for a fax machine - the chemist likes it 🙄) and 24 ranting messenger comments to my midwife mates. I had to then compose an email to my clients telling them that I was required to use my clinical judgement about when to see them in person and when to do a visit over the phone. That’s a hard one, when’s the right time? How can a phone conversation cover some lurking pregnancy illness? How will I know if their baby is growing? I am responsible for them. It weighs pretty heavy.

But I am reminded of my innate belief in birth. So I also told them to enjoy this time at home, to remember that in our grandmothers time pregnancy was normal, they didn’t know their due dates - they guessed, they accepted that baby would come when it was ready, they monitored movements and knew that they were getting bigger as their pants got tighter! This attitude and strong belief in pregnancy and birth as a normal event -combined with the modern technology being there if we really need it - is a beautiful way to grow a baby. I ended by saying stay home, nuture yourself and your loved ones, take up knitting – it has been proven to help lower stress! Stay safe.

Yes I actually told them to knit through this crisis 🤣. My mum would be proud. At 1pm I thought I better leave the office and get dressed before someone caught me in my really bad dressing gown.