Immerse yourself in the extraordinary daily life of a midwife

Confidences of a young midwife

Anna Roy is not yet 30 years old and yet she has already lived 1 lives. A midwife in Paris, she tells in her book about her extraordinary daily life. Like a private diary, she makes us discover through lived stories, sometimes funny, sometimes moving, snippets of her hectic daily life, and the reality of her job.

You have experienced very, very unusual deliveries. Which was the most striking?

I have experienced dozens of totally incongruous situations. But it is true that the birth in the hospital elevator, which I relate in the book, is truly incredible. This patient had come to give birth to her first baby. The dilation being almost total, it is transported to the delivery room which is on another floor. Go find out why, I accompany her and provide myself with a delivery kit. Fortunately, I want to say … Because the elevator was blocked for 45 minutes and the mother finally gave birth there. Today I laugh at it, but at the moment I can tell you that I was not doing very well. But we midwives have the ability to ignore everything when there is an emergency. We put ourselves in automatic mode and we perform the vital gestures to give birth to the child without endangering the mother. In this kind of situation, it is better not to have too much empathy, because you risk not being effective.

Do some deliveries affect you more than others?

There are so many moving situations but it is true that childbirth under X does not leave me indifferent. These babies behave differently from others. They are very wise, you can’t hear them cry. It’s as if they knew they were being abandoned and that, suddenly, they were trying to be loved by others. These toddlers particularly touch me, and their mothers too. Contrary to popular belief, these are not women who coldly abandon their children. Most of the time, these are acts of love. These women love their babies, but they think they won’t be able to be mothers. During a birth under X, the midwife chooses the name and first name of the child. She leaves a note to recount the circumstances of the birth without revealing the identity of the mother. It’s a heavy task that I try to do my best.

Baby deaths in utero are tragic situations. How do you announce the unthinkable?

We each have our techniques. For my part, even if I immediately see that the heart has stopped beating on the ultrasound, I continue to sweep the stomach with the probe to think about my words. I try to save a little time because the first words are important. Parents hold them back all their lives. The announcement of the child’s death is a tsunami, life stops. We try to support parents as best as possible, to respect their wishes. The deaths in utero of infants who were near term are unfortunately not such a rare phenomenon. One in two times we do not find a cause. Which is even more painful for parents.

You talk about puerperal psychosis in the book. What is it about ?

The puerperal psychosis indicates a psychotic decompensation related to the pregnancy. This mental disorder, much more serious than postpartum depression, can appear during childbirth or in the first days after the birth of the baby. Some women, who often have no previous psychiatric history, start to have hallucinations and delusions. Completely disconnected from reality, they no longer recognize the people around them. They take the baby in the wrong, sees him as a malicious person. The mother must be taken care of immediately because she can be dangerous for her baby. In the story I tell in the book, the mother was hospitalized for three days in psychiatry. She has learned to know her baby again and now she is completely normal. The phenomenon did not happen again for her other children.

Orgasmic birth is also a very rare phenomenon?

Yes, some women can enjoy giving birth. I remember having surprised a naked couple in the tub supposed to welcome the woman during her contractions. The man caressed her breasts, she kissed him languidly on the neck. The scene was very sultry and didn’t really look like childbirth. I was even embarrassed to talk to them. More seriously, these births are still very rare. It’s great that some women give birth singing or without an epidural and without pain. But you have to be careful not to make other mothers feel guilty.

Your book is a declaration of love for the profession of midwife. A totally addictive but also exhausting job …

The problem with the midwife is that she finds everyday life and normal life totally lukewarm and dull. We do not know what each day will be made of and we live very strong emotions. Me, who is sickly empathetic, I can not leave people in disarray and I can run to a mother-to-be in the middle of the night just to comfort her. The flip side is that most midwives retrain after 7 or 8 years because they can no longer keep up.. Especially since the salary does not follow: 1 euros, it is indecent. I have colleagues who eat pasta on the last ten days of the month and find it difficult to find accommodation. We are very disappointed with the new status. Today, we are calling for a real salary increase, that France harmonizes with other European countries and that midwives earn a salary commensurate with their responsibilities.