Hi, friends. Welcome back to the Birthing Bestie Blog, where we talk about real topics pertaining to pregnancy, birth, postpartum, partnerships, and just real life. Here on the blog, we don’t shy away from talking about the hardships of parenthood. Instead, we listen, encourage, validate, and welcome you with open arms.

I am coming off of a weekend birth that was long, yet beautiful, and taught me a lot as a doula. Every single birth that I go to, I learn from. I either learn from the staff, the nurses, the clients, or the experience itself, which is something I love about this work.

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It can be intimidating knowing that so much about birth is uncertain and unknown. It is so true when we say “no two births are alike”, and this weekend was a good reminder of that. And even more so, it was a good experience for me to not only support clients that I genuinely enjoy and appreciate but it also gave me the chance to learn some lessons in working with hospital staff as well. 

So today on the blog, I just want this to be an appreciation post for nurses and hospital staff. 

Over the weekend, we had a stellar team of nurses. I cannot say it enough. They were so wonderful. And as a doula, I can say that you never know what to expect when you walk into a birth… that goes for the birth itself and it also goes for the staff and their attitude towards doulas. 

I say all the time to clients- I talk about it in the Empowered Pregnancy Membership and in My Empowered Pregnancy Guide when talking about what to expect and who is in your birth space when it comes to a hospital setting- one of the big components of that environment is nurses. 

Nurses Can make or break your birth experience, in my opinion, and the silver lining with that is that if you are having an experience where you’re not vibing with the nurse, or for some reason, you just are not feeling aligned with this person, you can absolutely request a new nurse. It is so important to protect your birth space.

For me, 99% of the time, the nursing staff at any hospital that I’ve been at is amazing. Nurses really are one of a kind, and this weekend was a really good reminder of just how influential nurses can be in the birth space.

One of the reasons that I love being with clients who deliver at the hospital is because I love the team aspect of medical staff and nurses. I make it a priority to work together to support our clients. After all, we have the same mission, and because we have different experiences, different sets of education, and knowledge, it gives us a really wonderful opportunity to come together to support the laboring family in such a beautiful and collaborative way.

If you are a pregnant family who is expecting and planning to deliver in the hospital, please, please, know and appreciate your nurses, but also be encouraged that if for some reason you don’t feel aligned with that person that you can request a new nurse.

And for the doulas out there, whether you are accustomed to going to hospitals, or if being around hospital staff isn’t something that you’re super familiar with, I cannot recommend enough to make an effort to bond with the nurses who are on your client’s team. Even though so much of your expertise overlaps, you also have different education and experiences, so lean on each other to full gaps and create a dream team for your client.

This blog is just to recognize the nurses out there. I love working with nurses and this weekend was just such a beautiful reminder that they truly are such great caretakers. They are amazing, knowledgeable advocates, and with them, you really can have the dream support team, but it takes everybody working together. So doulas, try to make a connection with the nurses on your team because when it comes to supporting clients in the hospital, it’s all about coming together to support our clients. 

So, thank you, nurses, for all that you do. Again, just an appreciation post for all the hospital staff, but truly nurses who go above and beyond. You work is so appreciated and important, and I am so thankful for you!!

Doulas, if you want to know how you can better collaborate with hospital staff and better work with nurses to give your clients the experience in the hospital that they deserve, please reach out. I love talking about this. I love the teamwork aspect of labor and delivery in the hospital setting, and I would love to talk through this with you. 

You can always reach out to me on Instagram @ebbirthing or you can email me at @ebbirthing@gmail.com. Thank you again, nurses. Your work is so appreciated and I just want to thank you.