Running head: WINTER 2019 REFLECTION 1

Reflection on Assistant Experiences: Winter 2019

Elizabeth Mendoza

CLNC 2040: Phase 2 Practicum

Instructor: Lynette Elizalde-Robinson

April 13, 2019

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Reflection on Assistant Experiences: Winter 2019

In midwifery, we know that many social or extraneous factors can impact a person’s

overall health and even outcomes of their pregnancy. What does not get mentioned often in

midwifery, though, is how extraneous factors can readily influence the success or outcomes of a

midwife in training. In the same vein, midwives supportively usher birthing people through the

throws of labor, understanding that when you are feeling nervous or uncertain or trying to master

a difficult task, it is motivating and empowering to have a patient, encouraging person supporting

you. But again, this same level of support is often overlooked in midwifery apprenticeships or

seen as unnecessary or threatening to the traditions of the profession. Many a student midwife

has experienced challenging barriers like these while on the journey to become a midwife,

myself included.

But in this past trimester, I have been incredibly lucky to have worked with midwives

who believe fervently in furthering the profession and raising up midwives in training. Having

patient, compassionate, and empowering preceptors has imparted a renewed energy and

confidence in my journey as a student. With that confidence comes even more growth as I open

my heart and mind to more learning opportunities.

This confidence has been bolstered even more this trimester with my didactic work

succinctly aligning with my clinical experiences. I finished my Labor, Birth, and Immediate

Postpartum course work just as I found myself in a position to catch a few babies and manage the

delivery of some placentas. I worked through my Pediatrics coursework while I have been

working with my preceptors on perfecting performing a newborn exam and educating parents on

the process and earning signs. And I experienced some cases that were a variation of normal

after having covered them in classes recently: an intrapartum placental abruption, an unstable
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fetal lie in late pregnancy, a prolonged second stage, and a newborn with expiratory grunting, for

example. Having thorough didactic knowledge behind me during these situations helped me

know what to expect next, how to assist in the management of it or what my plan would be if I

were managing the situations, and what questions to ask of my preceptors or research later,

instead of being astonished at the moment without further thought. I believe that having these

synchronized didactic and clinical experiences coupled with my insatiable desire to further my

education has helped me improve as a student midwife this trimester. Having the confidence to

fully show up to experiences and yearning to experience more and know more has brought me a

greater sense of understanding in my education and in the practice of midwifery.

Having the more than a basic knowledge of many perinatal experiences has also cleared

and calmed my mind and my heart some to allow me to feel more instinctive during interactions

with clients. Lately, I have found myself seeing details of situations I may have missed or not

known to look for previously, using these as inherent clues to how a situation is likely to unfold.

This has been exemplified this trimester in knowing that a labor was never going to progress

unless the birth room was cleared of the crowd who had gathered there; or sensing that a second

stage was veering off the course of normal without ever doing an internal exam and then to not

really be surprised by a nuchal hand; or to feel the characteristics of a cervix in labor and

instinctively know the positions that would help be the most productive for the remainder of

labor. These unseen and almost-mystical qualities of a midwife come from a solid education, a

sturdy relationship with clients, an abundance of experiences, and an admiration of the mysteries

of pregnancy and birth. I hope to continue to hone all these aspects of quality midwifery to

continue to improve as a student and, eventually, as a practicing midwife.