Birthin' Babies

I have a friend who has a favorite line from Gone With the Wind: "Miss Scarlet, I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies." Up until this morning I could completely identify with the character of Prissy: all I knew was what I'd seen on ER. A one hour lab session with a professional mid-wife has changed all that.

Using plastic models, we learned how to use two fingers to measure the dilation of the cervix, feel the fontanelles (spaces between an infant's skull bones that enable the skull to alter its shape during childbirth), and determine whether an infant was coming out head first (normal presentation) or bottom first (breach presentation). I know, plastic models aren't exactly the real thing, but it's a start.

It's an amazing thing to see, even in a protected environment, how we enter the world. I overheard one student comment, tongue in cheek, "I'm never having children!" I can hardly say that I blame her because it's a herculean effort on the part of women. But the skin and muscles of a woman's pelvis are remarkably forgiving and elastic. They have to be in order to allow an infant to twist and turn as it makes its way through the birth canal.

One of my partners was a new, first-time father who'd seen all this up close and personally, and his broad smile throughout the lab was clear evidence that he was reliving the birth of his daughter. I couldn't help but remember the young doctor played by James MacArthur in the 1960s film, The Interns, who rather cockily felt obstetrics was beneath him -- until his first childbirth experience, that is. I think we're all looking forward to obstetrics next year after this morning.

The complications that can occur are beyond us at this point in our education. We're just trying to get the basics right: put your hands here, don't push to hard there, ask if the mother is comfortable, don't pull on the baby, and so forth. It's not rocket science; it's more about being considerate and skillful, knowing when to ask for help and when to let nature take its course. In that sense, it's about life and the lessons we all benefit from learning.