Wowsers. Zounds. Gadzooks. It's been an exciting couple of weeks in the maternity hospital. A particular highlight was when I stayed until 2 in the morning with one of the SpRs while he was on call. In the course of the day I saw 3 forceps deliveries (including the rarely seen beast of a Kielland forceps assisted turn without an episiotomy), 2 ERPCs, and 4 c-sections. Two of those I scrubbed in on simply to stand closer to the action, but for the second 2 I was actually the obstetrician's assistant.

I was struck by a number of things that night:

C-sections smell funny. It is likely that all abdominal surgeries smell funny, but so many of the ones I have seen have been laparoscopic so they weren't as fragrant.

The first cry of a baby as it gets pulled out of the uterus is amazing.

I imagine c-sections might feel anti-climactic to the parents. After 10 months (where did this 9 month figure come from anyway?) of pregnancy, 10 minutes later they're holding their baby (shoot, only two forms of the word 'there'). I realize there are a lot of good reasons for having a c-section, but in my inexperienced mind labor is an important part of the entire process.

Those of you who are parents might be familiar with all this, but it has been exciting to experience for the first time.

I've also been to many clinics, both obstetrical and gynaecological, and so have seen consultations with woman with uterine and ovarian cancer, prolapsed wombs (a better sounding word than uteruses), amennorrhea, and other problems. The doctors are all wonderful, both to their patients and to their students. Encouraging us to stay late and get involved, and making sure we're getting exposed to as many different aspects of the specialty as possible. It's been a real treat not to feel like an after-thought.

Ciao.