Emergency case who’s now my best friend

THROUGHOUT my career I have been faced with situations where I have had to react quickly, so I’m now pretty good at staying calm in an emergency. But there was one birth that really left me shaken.

During my final year as a student midwife, I was given a lovely lady called Tess to look after. She’d been progressing well, but after a while, as the pain started to get to her, I gave her a diamorphine injection at her request to help her relax. As it took effect, I left her to doze off for a few minutes before wheeling her into the delivery room. ‘Come on, Tess,’ I said to her as we arrived. ‘Wake up. It’s time to have your baby.’ Nothing. So I tried again. ‘Hello? Come on, wake up! Wakey, wakey! Tess? TESS?

Now her partner was trying to wake her – he was shaking her shoulder and practically shouting in her ear, but she was completely out for the count.

I checked her over: her blood pressure, heart-rate and airways were all normal. Everything was fine – except that we simply couldn’t wake her up.

I walked out of the room in a daze and told my colleagues in the corridor: ‘I think my lady is unconscious.’

What was I thinking about? I should have pulled the emergency buzzer instead of leaving the room. But I was so busy trying to stay calm that I failed to do the right thing.

‘Unconscious?’ said the midwife on the desk.

‘Yes – I think she’s reacted to the diamorphine.’

Luckily, my announcement to colleagues had the desired effect. The whole team sprang into action. They swiftly administered Narcan, a drug that reverses the diamorphine, and Tess came round quickly – a bit like Uma Thurman in the movie Pulp Fiction after a shot of adrenaline.

In the end it was a straightforward birth, but I was so shaken by the experience that I went to see Tess many times afterwards to check she and the baby were OK.

The incident taught me a lot – and gained me a new friend.

Not long afterwards I met Tess in the supermarket with her lovely baby.

We chatted for a while and then agreed to meet for coffee. We’ve been great friends ever since, and two years ago Tess began training to be a midwife herself. ‘You inspired me,’ she said. ‘I want to do what you do.’

It is the greatest compliment anyone has ever paid me.