Theme 3 “emotional toll”
Following on from theme two, the students discussed the emotional toll
of working in a high stakes specialty, particularly if there was a bad
outcome for either the woman or baby, emphasising the heightened
emotional burden that comes with the responsibility of working in
obstetrics.
FG6 F20 “I don’t like the responsibility of having to take care
of the baby as well, um coz if things so wrong, in terms of during
labour, if things go wrong, because things should not go wrong. If
things go wrong it’s bad. I can’t imagine how guilty one must feel if
something um goes wrong in labour and the baby suffers.”
Student fears of observing poor outcomes and experiences of upsetting
birth were cited as traumatic, demonstrating the weight of the emotions
that students and clinicians are expected to manage in obstetrics.
FG6 F18 “I was really scared about seeing a stillbirth. That was
my biggest fear going into the placement like I was like I don’t know
how I am going to cope. I’ve seen the baby come out at c section really
floppy.. I was just scared in the corner like I don’t’ want to be in the
way. I think for me it was really difficult.