Two back-to-back births that ran the gamut. One striking difference was the OB management of delivery.
Dr. Masked Man: He showed up only when baby was crowning. He involved a surgical tech who draped the mom’s legs and torso in blue sterile paper. To hold her legs, I had to fight with the ridiculous paper and I did get “the look” from the tech when I rubbed the mom’s thigh over the paper. The dr. wore a surgical mask, a face shield, a scrub cap, long gloves, full scrubs, and boots. It could have been anybody under that getup! The surg tech kept pouring soapy water on the mom without warning and scrubbed her down with antiseptic. The room was bright and filled with people. When baby was born, dr. immediately clamped the cord. Baby was held up (for the photo shot maybe?) and then handed to a nurse for twelve million footprints and procedures. Then dr. applied strong cord traction for the placenta.
Dr. Polo Shirt: Wore casual “street clothes.” Called the mom by name. In fact, he called all of us by name. The room was dim and the only other person was the nurse. When baby was born, dr. handed her to the mom. He patiently waited for the cord to stop pulsing while the mom breastfed. Cord clamped (and cut by me–my first!), mom cleaned up, and dr. patiently waited for the placenta. He quietly respected the postpartum time by slipping out of the room. He came back later to quietly bid us all goodnight.
Which would you choose? And how would a newly pregnant mom know to even ask the questions to find the right choice?
Inexplicable Ways 