Midwifery is a rewarding career but the on call life, stress and the conditions you put yourself in takes a toll on your mind and body.
Are you prepared to live the on call life?
Have you ever been up for 72 hours with minutes of sleep, no shower, 3 day old clothes and a food bar? That may seem crazy but it does happen occasionally. You can be better prepared though.
Being on call 24/7 puts a weight on you that can cause anxiety in some persons. For others, they do not notice a difference in their mental health being on call.
This post sure is cheerful, eh?
I’m not going to sugar coat this because I’d rather you know before you start that way you can be prepared. I’ll tell you a story and list some of my best tips for being on call.
Your phone is on you 24/7 and always on loud.
You always have to have a charger because you will need it. Buy 10 and put them everywhere!
Going swimming at a water park? Better have some way of having your phone with you in the water. Going to a concert? Better have your phone where you can see it light up because you for sure won’t hear it. Going to a noisy restaurant? Put that phone on the table as soon as you sit down.
I’ve missed phone calls with my phone in my purse and I didn’t even think it was loud in there. Smart watches are great for this but not everyone can afford one.
Unless I’m at a birth….
You miss anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, soccer games, plays, girls night out, your child’s milestones, and other big, important, wonderful events.
You name it, you miss it. Now in some apprenticeships you have days off call and can ask for important days off but no matter what, you will still miss something important to you because birth happens at any time.
Babies do not wait for your sister’s wedding to end. No, you receive that call as she’s walking down the isle. Tip: Have a back up midwife/student to cover your off call time and take time off call!
You are tired often
Did you just finish a 30 hour, intense birth? That’s wonderful! Now, off to a full day of prenatal appointments with all your other lovely clients. Think your day is over? Nope. You barely sat down in your car to go home- finally!
Then you get the call to a birth and she sounds like she is going fast. Do you risk stopping for food and miss the birth? No. So you find that peppermint in your cup holder, shove it in your mouth and speed away. Only to arrive and baby isn’t born until 10 hours later. Late nights or early mornings take a toll on the body.
Depending on how busy your practice is and if you have partners, share call, etc., this may not be something that happens often. I can say this has only happened to me 4 times but I always keep extra items in my car for this occasion.
Your adrenals get shot
Due to the lack of sleep or the random hours of sleep and your poor diet. You might even gain weight due to your sleep issues and eating junk. It happens.
You can help this by having healthy food with you and sleeping when you can. Make sure you are taking your supplements as well.
Always be prepared
You will need to stay within a certain radius while on call. You cannot take a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas or that cool new spot 2 hours away while on call.
Every adventure is a calculation. If you’re hiking a trail, how long before you can reach your car and then your client?
It is emotional
***Most of the time birth is not eventful because your clients are low risk and you have worked together to keep her healthy. This is a once every ten years scenario below so don’t think this is every day life! ***
Remember that story above? That 30 hour birth drained you completely. Mom and baby are doing great but the labor was intense and you were too busy to sleep and only ate cheese and meat from a deli tray. You are beat.
Thankfully you are able to stop and grab some fast food before the first prenatal appointment and you shove it down your throat as your client comes in bawling. She wiped blood when she got up to pee this morning and there is a lot of it.
You do lab work, send her for a sonogram, council her and prepared for the bad news. 3 hours later she calls and tells you she lost the baby. This is her 3rd loss in a row. You cry with her and some how make her feel a little better before telling her you will check on her later that night and hang up.
Your day keeps going even if you are emotionally drained
Every other client’s appointment has been great and you leave for the day. You’re happy to get to eat a hot meal and see your family but your phone rings and you haven’t even started your car yet. She sounds like she may be going through transition and you race over there without eating.
Mom is laboring hard, she is exhausted and 8 hours later she starts pushing. After 2 hours of pushing that sweet baby is born. She is slow to start breathing and you have to give her rescue breaths.
As you think about starting chest compressions she cries for the first time. Thankfully mom is doing okay and you do not have to attend to her. You sit back and catch your breath for a moment.
That was intense
Most of the time you have the ability to recover from a birth or sleep a few minutes while at the birth. Usually you do not get called to two births in a day. Most of the time you do not have to resuscitate a baby. Do not let that story above discourage you but know it can happen.
Now that I’ve discouraged you to from becoming a midwife, HA! Here are my tips.
- Keep plenty of non-perishable food items in your car. Things like nuts, seeds, dried meats, dried fruit, fruit cups, fruit pouches, kale chips, crackers, peanut butter, etc.
- Keep cold foods and snacks in the fridge and bring your lunch box whenever you can. Sometimes you cannot go get food while at a birth and you feel so much better if you have some with you.
- Utilize food delivery services if you can. Know that you are charged a convince fee for them delivering the food to you.
- Keep and extra set or two of birthing clothes in your car. I keep 2 pairs of scrubs in my car in case I get the set I’m wearing drenched at a water birth and change into the first extra set postpartum. Then, if I get called to a birth after that or before I am able to put a new pair in my car I still have a set in there. If I’m going somewhere in flip flops I bring my extra set of shoes too.
- Keep a blanket or sweatshirt or both in your car for those times where the family does not have an extra blanket for you you to sleep or you do not want to bother them.
- Buy 5 extra chargers to keep in your car, your extra clothing bag, your birth bag, etc. You may even consider a power bank to have with you if you do not have access to car or house power to charge your phone.
- Take your supplements and eat as healthy as you can. This will help with burn out, adrenal fatigue and overall well being. Have a strong self care routine.
- Have a good support system in place. It is hard to do this job at odd hours without the support of your immediate family.
- Try a job that compliments midwifery where you are on call as well. This can help you become accustomed to the on call life.
Being on call is tough but you can do it and do it well
I wish I would have known what I was getting into. It would not have stopped me but I would have been better prepared.
What other tips can you add to help with the on call life?
