Heidi Conaway
October 2024
Heidi
Conaway
,
BSN, RN, EFM
Labor and Delivery
Howard County General Hospital
Columbia
,
MD
United States
Heidi and my husband used various techniques to get me to utilize the right muscles, and she was so encouraging and realistic.
I was admitted to the L&D unit by my OB-GYN office due to my unborn son’s heart rate being irregularly low. I was already scheduled for induction because I was postterm in my pregnancy. At this point, I am nervous, scared, emotional, and everything a first-time mom can be. We had various nurses, midwives, and doctors over our stay, but nurse Heidi is the reason my son is alive, and I was still able to have a normal delivery.
I was in labor for hours as they worked to dilate me, soften my cervix, break my water, etc. Heidi came in around 7/8 am after all this had been done, and I had already been laboring and pushing for about four hours with little success, not to anyone’s fault, but imagine my exhaustion and my overall physical and mental state at that point. Heidi listened to concerns for my unborn son and myself, and she listened to my husband as he explained how we had been failed along the way by others. She understood, promised she would do her best, and that I would be able to have a safe vaginal delivery.
Heidi and my husband used various techniques to get me to utilize the right muscles, and she was so encouraging and realistic. I told her while in tears I couldn’t handle another dose of the contraction medicine, she spoke through my pain, she made me find the strength she motivated me to keep on keeping on. As I continued to push towards delivering, Heidi asked me a question no one else had. Would we be okay with a vacuum-assisted delivery by the DR. Essentially to help pull the baby out of the canal as I push because the baby was coming out face up, making it harder for him to pass the canal? Heidi reassured me it was safe; she also stated having a baby in the posterior position does cause longer labor and not to beat myself up over it.
The vacuum wasn’t ideal, but it allowed me to avoid the c-section, as the doctor on the nighttime shift wanted me to do it hours before. A doctor never mentioned the idea of vacuum assistance! My husband and I discussed it and agreed if I could get him that far out the vacuum could do the rest. Around 8/8:30, my lovely midwife, whom I had been seeing since the beginning of my pregnancy, was there, S. My husband and I wanted her to deliver our son from the beginning, so I am glad it worked out. Dr. D, the daytime doctor, comes in. She’s a breath of fresh air, so kind, so soft-spoken. By 9:41 am, Heidi, S, and Dr. D had helped me deliver my son via vaginal delivery. I thank God for them.
I was in labor for hours as they worked to dilate me, soften my cervix, break my water, etc. Heidi came in around 7/8 am after all this had been done, and I had already been laboring and pushing for about four hours with little success, not to anyone’s fault, but imagine my exhaustion and my overall physical and mental state at that point. Heidi listened to concerns for my unborn son and myself, and she listened to my husband as he explained how we had been failed along the way by others. She understood, promised she would do her best, and that I would be able to have a safe vaginal delivery.
Heidi and my husband used various techniques to get me to utilize the right muscles, and she was so encouraging and realistic. I told her while in tears I couldn’t handle another dose of the contraction medicine, she spoke through my pain, she made me find the strength she motivated me to keep on keeping on. As I continued to push towards delivering, Heidi asked me a question no one else had. Would we be okay with a vacuum-assisted delivery by the DR. Essentially to help pull the baby out of the canal as I push because the baby was coming out face up, making it harder for him to pass the canal? Heidi reassured me it was safe; she also stated having a baby in the posterior position does cause longer labor and not to beat myself up over it.
The vacuum wasn’t ideal, but it allowed me to avoid the c-section, as the doctor on the nighttime shift wanted me to do it hours before. A doctor never mentioned the idea of vacuum assistance! My husband and I discussed it and agreed if I could get him that far out the vacuum could do the rest. Around 8/8:30, my lovely midwife, whom I had been seeing since the beginning of my pregnancy, was there, S. My husband and I wanted her to deliver our son from the beginning, so I am glad it worked out. Dr. D, the daytime doctor, comes in. She’s a breath of fresh air, so kind, so soft-spoken. By 9:41 am, Heidi, S, and Dr. D had helped me deliver my son via vaginal delivery. I thank God for them.