Journal Thoughts and Reflection
February, 27, 2014
I again share with readers of my ePortfolio thoughts from my journal. This was the first reflection assignment I created. The actual journal entries are not included. The assignment was to write a 2-3 page paper using the thoughts and reflections from my journal entries to describe my perceptions, insights and learning experience as I worked through the Midwife's Assistant course in preparation for my clinical practicum.
This report needed to include the following points of discussion:
1) The importance of confidentiality and what it means to you and the women you will provide care for
2) Your role and relationship with preceptors
3) Possible biases you feel you may have regarding certain issues and how you may deal with such ethical issues
4) How you see yourself achieving and completing your own goals and plans that you have for clinical training/preceptorships
This report needed to include the following points of discussion:
1) The importance of confidentiality and what it means to you and the women you will provide care for
2) Your role and relationship with preceptors
3) Possible biases you feel you may have regarding certain issues and how you may deal with such ethical issues
4) How you see yourself achieving and completing your own goals and plans that you have for clinical training/preceptorships
When began the Midwife's Assistant course I began reflecting upon some of the reasons why I wanted to be a midwife in the first place. I knew the journey would be long and the path grueling at times between the lack of sleep and the time spent away from my family including special occasions. I am not a career path woman. I enjoyed nearly 20 years of being a stay at home mom with an occasional odd job until my youngest was in middle school. I put my family first but I have always desired to serve my fellow man in whatever capacity I can. I see no better opportunity that to contribute to the expansion of maternal and child health services. I firmly believe that every woman deserves the guiding light of midwifery. I see this light as a beacon to guiding women to better understand their body and its reproductive functions from menarche to menopause. I want to be a guide as women discover the incredible blessing of being a woman.
I have three children who were all born in hospitals. I was attended to by an obstetrician and I breastfed my babies for up to 6 months. All of my children are grown adults now. I am expecting my fifth grandchild in August. I'm no spring chicken. Before becoming a student midwife I had not yet had the opportunity to attend an out of hospital birth. I had served as a doula for several women, including in a surgical suite during a cesarean. Hospital doula work is hard, I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia which I treat holistically. The hours spent at a woman's side in labor drain me physically. When I attend births in hospital something worse happens, I am drain emotionally as well. I know that there are women who must give birth in a hospital environment but for those who desire a home or home-like setting I know I can offer a better way that opting for a hospital birth.
My husband Dave is 100% in support of my choice to pursue midwifery. We have experienced the possibility of being separated on special occasions all of our married life since Dave was in the military. We have always planned an annual trip together and we attend religious services together as a source of strength. We also keep our commitment to a once a week date together to nourish our relationship. We also believe in each partner giving service to one another. In this way we do not keep tabs on who is keeping up their “half” we endeavor to give 100% when possible so that if the other is not at their best we have a fulfilling partnership. We have decided that when a call comes that interrupts our plans we will just take a raincheck and make new plans. He knows how much being a midwife means to me and sees how happy I am when I am attending births.
We need more midwives. That is all there is to it. In my humble opinion midwives are poised to make the greatest difference in women's health in our century. The industrialized birth model has proven to be a poor standard and we ned to return to the low intervention midwifery model of care. Very few intrapartum complications have better outcomes if the baby had been born in a hospital rather than in the home. The midwifery model of care would do more to save women than all of the medical machinery combined. Women who are educated about self -care, confident in their strength and well supported have transformative experiences, Patient and attentive midwives guide women through each necessary stage. From prenatal education through postpartum support midwives support maternal well-being that nurtures women.
Since listing my doula page earlier this year I have been the recipient of dozens of phone calls from teens who have questions about pregnancy and requesting appointments for services or a pregnancy test. It is becoming clear to me that this is where my path lies. I feel called to serve teens before and during pregnancy. I was a teen mother myself. I feel uniquely qualified to work with teens. I have had a vision to build a wellness sanctuary with many alternative and complimentary modalities coming together to serve the community in a way that supports their wellness. Being a midwife who educates and specializes in teen reproductive education and maternity care speaks to me. I hope to find like minded partners who will want to work to support the vision.
Some of the things I look for in colleagues I also look for in mentors. I know how important it is to keep all information confidential regards clients when working with a midwife and as a midwife. I have recently seen that this is not as important to some of my peers. I am careful to not use clients names or details when participating in peer review sessions with our doula circle and the HIPAA laws make it quite clear regarding individually identifiable health information. I am grateful that I have been invited to participate in a newly formed peer review of midwives and students. These women are focused on developing a peer review group whose focus is to foster support and education instead of gossiping.
I have already begun working with preceptors, in fact I have two of them. I believe a good midwife is one who values life, who is humble enough to continue learning and recognize when care needed is beyond her scope of practice, dedicated to caring for the individual woman respecting her wishes and passionate about serving. While I prescribe to a pro-life philosophy I respect that women are to be recognized as individuals with rights to choose for themselves. I support safe legal abortion for incest, rape and when the life of the mother is at stake after she has consulted with qualified medical personnel. I do not condone elective abortions and seek to educate the community by supporting pro-life organizations and speaking out against abortion. I believe life begins at conception. This may at times place me at odds when faced with a situation when a mother decides to terminate a pregnancy for reasons outside of my own beliefs. I have been and always will be a woman of faith. I have chosen to believe that the God of the universe has laws and commandments. I am at times really uncomfortable working with people who live in opposition to those commandments. I am working on my equally strong belief that He would not have me to be the judge. I am also working on my foundational paradigm that a woman's individual right to choose is granted under legally enacted laws and is designed by the creator of the universe therefore must be respected. I am growing as I face the realities of my bias and how to work with them when it comes to this and other issues.
I am very committed to my goals. I want to sit for the NARM in August 2016 and have my license by 2017. I may need to enroll in high volume clinical setting to have enough experience by May 2016 to apply but I am prepared to do that. I endeavor to have a thriving homebirth practice in five years time with a birth center to support the women of my community and to begin training future midwives. I am very empathetic, I am skilled at calming stressful situations and I am have many years of experience relating people of cultures different from my own. I am also comfortable in my own skin. I don’t aspire to a different size, hair color or body shape. I am quite minimalistic when it comes to make-up jewelry and other notions of “style.” I am naturally inquisitive and like to learn. I believe these qualities will serve me well in attaining my goals. When it comes down to it I am living my dream and I feel like there is no better place for me right now in my life. So when I get discouraged by the long hours or when I miss my family I reflect on these things and I am content.
I have three children who were all born in hospitals. I was attended to by an obstetrician and I breastfed my babies for up to 6 months. All of my children are grown adults now. I am expecting my fifth grandchild in August. I'm no spring chicken. Before becoming a student midwife I had not yet had the opportunity to attend an out of hospital birth. I had served as a doula for several women, including in a surgical suite during a cesarean. Hospital doula work is hard, I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia which I treat holistically. The hours spent at a woman's side in labor drain me physically. When I attend births in hospital something worse happens, I am drain emotionally as well. I know that there are women who must give birth in a hospital environment but for those who desire a home or home-like setting I know I can offer a better way that opting for a hospital birth.
My husband Dave is 100% in support of my choice to pursue midwifery. We have experienced the possibility of being separated on special occasions all of our married life since Dave was in the military. We have always planned an annual trip together and we attend religious services together as a source of strength. We also keep our commitment to a once a week date together to nourish our relationship. We also believe in each partner giving service to one another. In this way we do not keep tabs on who is keeping up their “half” we endeavor to give 100% when possible so that if the other is not at their best we have a fulfilling partnership. We have decided that when a call comes that interrupts our plans we will just take a raincheck and make new plans. He knows how much being a midwife means to me and sees how happy I am when I am attending births.
We need more midwives. That is all there is to it. In my humble opinion midwives are poised to make the greatest difference in women's health in our century. The industrialized birth model has proven to be a poor standard and we ned to return to the low intervention midwifery model of care. Very few intrapartum complications have better outcomes if the baby had been born in a hospital rather than in the home. The midwifery model of care would do more to save women than all of the medical machinery combined. Women who are educated about self -care, confident in their strength and well supported have transformative experiences, Patient and attentive midwives guide women through each necessary stage. From prenatal education through postpartum support midwives support maternal well-being that nurtures women.
Since listing my doula page earlier this year I have been the recipient of dozens of phone calls from teens who have questions about pregnancy and requesting appointments for services or a pregnancy test. It is becoming clear to me that this is where my path lies. I feel called to serve teens before and during pregnancy. I was a teen mother myself. I feel uniquely qualified to work with teens. I have had a vision to build a wellness sanctuary with many alternative and complimentary modalities coming together to serve the community in a way that supports their wellness. Being a midwife who educates and specializes in teen reproductive education and maternity care speaks to me. I hope to find like minded partners who will want to work to support the vision.
Some of the things I look for in colleagues I also look for in mentors. I know how important it is to keep all information confidential regards clients when working with a midwife and as a midwife. I have recently seen that this is not as important to some of my peers. I am careful to not use clients names or details when participating in peer review sessions with our doula circle and the HIPAA laws make it quite clear regarding individually identifiable health information. I am grateful that I have been invited to participate in a newly formed peer review of midwives and students. These women are focused on developing a peer review group whose focus is to foster support and education instead of gossiping.
I have already begun working with preceptors, in fact I have two of them. I believe a good midwife is one who values life, who is humble enough to continue learning and recognize when care needed is beyond her scope of practice, dedicated to caring for the individual woman respecting her wishes and passionate about serving. While I prescribe to a pro-life philosophy I respect that women are to be recognized as individuals with rights to choose for themselves. I support safe legal abortion for incest, rape and when the life of the mother is at stake after she has consulted with qualified medical personnel. I do not condone elective abortions and seek to educate the community by supporting pro-life organizations and speaking out against abortion. I believe life begins at conception. This may at times place me at odds when faced with a situation when a mother decides to terminate a pregnancy for reasons outside of my own beliefs. I have been and always will be a woman of faith. I have chosen to believe that the God of the universe has laws and commandments. I am at times really uncomfortable working with people who live in opposition to those commandments. I am working on my equally strong belief that He would not have me to be the judge. I am also working on my foundational paradigm that a woman's individual right to choose is granted under legally enacted laws and is designed by the creator of the universe therefore must be respected. I am growing as I face the realities of my bias and how to work with them when it comes to this and other issues.
I am very committed to my goals. I want to sit for the NARM in August 2016 and have my license by 2017. I may need to enroll in high volume clinical setting to have enough experience by May 2016 to apply but I am prepared to do that. I endeavor to have a thriving homebirth practice in five years time with a birth center to support the women of my community and to begin training future midwives. I am very empathetic, I am skilled at calming stressful situations and I am have many years of experience relating people of cultures different from my own. I am also comfortable in my own skin. I don’t aspire to a different size, hair color or body shape. I am quite minimalistic when it comes to make-up jewelry and other notions of “style.” I am naturally inquisitive and like to learn. I believe these qualities will serve me well in attaining my goals. When it comes down to it I am living my dream and I feel like there is no better place for me right now in my life. So when I get discouraged by the long hours or when I miss my family I reflect on these things and I am content.
Reflection
It is very interesting to write a reflection on a reflection. As I sit here past my goal of sitting for the NARM in August 2016 I am a bit sad, yet, I know what I have been through. Since setting out to become a licensed midwife we have endured many family trials. Just 10 days ago I was rear-ended by a hit and run driver and had to miss clinical days and make arrangements to purchase a new car and find support as I strengthen the strained muscles of my back and neck. I am so grateful that the accident was not much worse but at the same time I am reminded of how resilient I am. I am stronger that I ever imagined. I know in Whom I have trusted. I am more and more aware of our Creator's hand in my life and I continue to pursue my dreams with conviction that this is the path I am meant to take.
I learned many skills in this course. My instinct to always guard the confidentiality of the women in my care was strengthened from the very beginning and continues to be a factor in all I do. I had a very hard time searching for photographs I wanted to include in this ePortfolio because I wanted to protect the individuals in them. This foundation is something I have been grateful for from the beginning.
At the same time looking back to 2014 it is so exciting to realize how far I have come. I took Midwife Assistant in my first term at MCU. I am only one class and one lab away from completing my didactic work. I continue to push forward to complete clinical experiences and again, I know in Whom I have trusted. I will finish, and I will finish strong!
I learned many skills in this course. My instinct to always guard the confidentiality of the women in my care was strengthened from the very beginning and continues to be a factor in all I do. I had a very hard time searching for photographs I wanted to include in this ePortfolio because I wanted to protect the individuals in them. This foundation is something I have been grateful for from the beginning.
At the same time looking back to 2014 it is so exciting to realize how far I have come. I took Midwife Assistant in my first term at MCU. I am only one class and one lab away from completing my didactic work. I continue to push forward to complete clinical experiences and again, I know in Whom I have trusted. I will finish, and I will finish strong!
Copyright © 2016 Kathryn S. Ramirez, all rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited.
The contents of this website are for informational purposes only and do not render medical or psychological advice, opinion, diagnosis, or treatment. The information provided through this website should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. It is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you may have a medical or psychological problem, you should consult your appropriate health care provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. Links on this website are provided only as an informational resource, and it should not be implied that we recommend, endorse or approve of any of the content at the linked sites, nor are we responsible for their availability, accuracy or content.