Are there any labor and delivery/OB nurses out there?

Question

Hey girls I am am OB nurse and have just went through my 3rd miscarriage in a year. 
I am looking towards any of you that have  gone through anything similar and how you dealt with work. Any advice would be appreciated.
After my first miscarriage I was able to persevere. My second was very early and was a little easier  to deal with but I told myself if this happens again I dont know how I can do this anymore...
Well here I am the 3rd time around and it was further along and a missed miscarriage and just a totally different experience. I have been on my week off over this course of this miscarriage but go back to work Tuesday and just keep thinking how I know the first neonatal patient I look at I am going to burst into tears along with that I am envious of my pregnant patients ..how can I continue on?

Answer

Yes! I am a women’s health nurse practitioner and I do prenatal care for part of my job. I’ve also had 3 miscarriages in the last year and it is SO hard to continue to find compassion for patients, especially those who are in their 6th unplanned pregnancy or are on drugs. But for every patient who I struggle with there is another who has also experienced loss, loss worse than mine. And I try to focus on the joy that these patients get when they have a successful pregnancy and find hope in that.  And fake it through the ones that seem less worthy of a healthy pregnancy and also remember that it’s not my place to judge or decide, and that these people have also been through many hard experiences that I may not know about.

Answer

I am an RN, but not in OB. I did, however, work in peds ICU and when I started to notice that my emotions were getting the best of me, I moved on to another specialty. I’ll always have a special place in my heart for the PICU, but I couldn’t do it anymore. Do you feel like your emotions are affecting your ability to be the best nurse you can be? Do you feel like it’s getting to be too much to handle? That’s the beauty of nursing— the opportunities are endless. Is there another specialty you’ve wanted to be in or another unit you’ve ever just been curious about working on? But if you know that L&D is absolutely where you want to be for the foreseeable future, maybe you could take a little personal time off to process your feelings and cope before submerging yourself in a world full of new moms and new babies. It’s rough and I commend you for being able to do it, especially considering your losses. God bless you and good luck 💕

Answer

I am so sorry you have experienced this! I am a postpartum nurse and found out i had a MMC the week before Christmas. Went to work 3 days later to take care of one mother putting her child up for adoption (good decision, difficult to provide unemotional care) and a mother who had used multiple drugs right up until delivery.  I was able to hide the emotions from my patients, but took many trips to cry in the bathroom.  It is such a hard job to have after experiencing loss. I don't necessarily have any tricks or anything. But i am here to offer support and well wishes.

Are there any labor and delivery/OB nurses out there?

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