Stephanie Preston 1

Reflection on Assist Experiences

This semester came with a lot of complications both in births and in my personal life.

Most of the births from this semester taught me a lot about how little control we actually have. I

don’t feel like I got to really make any large improvements in any specific area. We had a few

potential prenatal complications come up and several birth transfers so a lot of observing and

research happened this semester.

My prenatal skills are feeling pretty solid and I have technically completed enough

prenatals to move to primary of those and I feel confident in my ability to do so. I did notice

though about halfway through the semester that most of my palpations and things were

happening on third trimester bellies so I spoke with Heather and she helped make an effort for

me to still get hands on earlier gestations, which I was able to do.

One of the biggest lessons I think I learned this semester is the importance of setting

good boundaries and expectations as a provider. There was one particular family that both my

preceptor and I felt close to and cared for greatly. We took a great amount of time prenatally

with them to help them through some tough mental struggles and family issues and how those

could affect their birth. The clients ended up being transferred to the hospital after 3 days of

trying to get labor started unsuccessfully and then we aren’t sure what happened or where

things broke down but they got really upset and moved care for their post partum. We as

providers definitely got to comfortable and probably moved more towards acting like friends

rather than a hired caretaker. There were some well learned lessons on things that I need to

ensure are in my future contracts as well as a reminder about healthy boundaries.

The challenges I faced this semester where much less hands on skills and much more

testing my patience and trust in birth to just do it’s thing as well as being more preemptive about

keeping up on the latest research for signs and symptoms of different complications. I also had
Stephanie Preston 2
Reflection on Assist Experiences
some challenges in managing the business side of midwifery. Ordering supplies and ensuring

that all the lab equipment is in dates. Progress through this challenge I think would be to work

with my preceptor to help her set up a better inventory system to ensure our clients are met with

professional high quality care.

I still have a terrible pattern of procrastination. I am getting better I think over the last few

semesters and now that my divorce is final hopefully things will start settling down and I can find

a better groove again.