I was first asked to do this video a long time ago by a midwifery student about to start their training, but I've put it off for a long time, considering what to say...coping with your first midwifery emergency can be a preoccupying thought!

The truth is, you're not really expected to know anything when coping with your first midwifery emergency! There is just one exception to this:

Find the emergency buzzer, or later you'll be saying bugger!

Every time you go into a birth centre, hospital, or other clinical setting...take the time to work out where the emergency buzzer is, so you know what to pull if you're asked to get help! Ideally you should know where the normal buzzer is too (and try not to get them mixed up...this is a common, but sometimes embarrassing error 😉 )

But otherwise, your first emergency is all about observing. Write a reflection on the events, and talk about it with your student and qualified colleagues. This is both to help your learning, and because it can be emotionally draining.

As you progress through your first year you will be able to:

• Reassure the woman and her family, offering the human side of care
• Get the right emergency trolleys
• Do blood pressure, pulse and other observations
• Label blood bottles and get them processed urgently
• Looking after the baby (if Mum is the one who is in need of emergency care)

Things to avoid:

• Getting in the way
• I wouldn't suggest scribing during an emergency unless there is no-one else to do this. It's very difficult to scribe well during a fast paced event with lots of drugs, people, observations and so on! You'll develop this skill as you progress through your training

Coping with your first midwifery emergency is a bit of a rite of passage.

I hope you learn lots, and everyone comes out of it happy and healthy.

Now I want to hear from you!

Do you have any worries about coping with your first emergency? Are you a senior student, or qualified midwife who remembers your first emergency and would like to give some tips? I'd love it if you left a comment to let us know 🙂

Oh, and please share this video post if you found it useful!