Saturday, September 6, 2008

Ponderings

As an OB, we are involved in the single most intimate and amazing experience most people have - childbirth. There is a huge amount of trust placed in us - we are allowed to see and touch areas most people aren't. I am the first person to reach out and touch a new person as the baby is pushed towards extrauterine existence. I guide the shoulders out and in the same movement swing the baby onto Mom's belly - just inches from where he resided hours earlier.

And as a doc in a small town, we frequently care for the whole family. Sisters who are pregnant at the same time. New cousins. We hysterectomize the soon-to-be grandmother during her child's pregnancy (in time to allow her to help with the newborn). A new patient will come in and say "You delivered so-and-so's baby. She's my cousin/sister/friend/neighbor." It's an interconnecting web of humanity and I am merely one strand.

And I've been here in town long enough to start doing repeaters. That is the true mark of trust - letting you be there again. Allowing you to enter a sacred time again. Trusting in your ability to do a c-section - again.

This is why I still do what I do, despite whining about call, despite the hours, despite the crazy patients. Because there is still lots of beautiful things about being an OB.

2 comments:

dr. whoo? said...

Beautiful post. It's nice to revisit what drew us in to the field in the first place!

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