Can you please introduce yourself and tell us about your journey to becoming a midwife?
My name is Vanessa, I am 35 years old and I am from Lyon. I always wanted to work in care, to take care of others. At the end of high school, I wanted to try medical school. Aware of how difficult it would be, I worked very hard! I was not aiming for medicine but for something else, nothing specific yet. Until the day I went to see a midwife to learn a little more about the profession. It was a revelation!
I repeated my first year of medicine, like almost everyone else, and I got a place at the midwifery school in Bourg en Bresse (01). I was delighted! After 4 years of school, or 5 years of study, here I am a midwife.
-When did you have this vocation for science fiction and what is your vision of the profession?
During my school years, I really knew that this job was made for me. Helping women become mothers, accompanying them, supporting them in such an intimate and happy moment. When I was a young midwife, I thought that the heart of our job was birth. I love the delivery room, the emergency room, the technique but also the physical and psychological support of the woman. Then I discovered before and after childbirth.
Today I believe that a midwife can take care of women throughout their entire life as a woman.
-How important is pre- and post-partum monitoring?
Pre- and post-natal monitoring is really important. Before birth, we prepare ourselves to experience something incredible. In our current society, I find that there is not enough information given from woman to woman, of mother-daughter transmission. As a result, some women are not prepared enough for childbirth and then what comes after. More and more centers dedicated to women are being set up and social networks are developing a lot on maternity.
This is where the midwife is very important. Being present, listening, supporting a project, preparing for discovery, giving life, surpassing oneself. Then the postnatal follow-up, just as precious. The midwife can medically monitor the couple and the newborn but also be present for all the psychological side that results from it. The postpartum period is a difficult period for the woman and one that is not talked about enough. The midwife is truly a rock where one can hold on if necessary.
-In your opinion, what are the essential qualities of a midwife?
The essential qualities of a midwife are patience, empathy, gentleness and listening.
-You are a mother of two children, how did you experience your deliveries? Did becoming a mother give you a different approach to your job?
I really lived my pregnancies fully and consciously. I lived in the present moment. I had very pleasant pregnancies and hormones at their best! I was no longer a midwife. I let go and it did me a lot of good!
I had a breech cesarean for my first. A very beautiful experience but the body recovers more slowly. For my second I experienced vaginal delivery. It was very intense and so wonderful!
Of course, motherhood has changed the way I care for patients. I really know what I'm talking about now that I've experienced it! My advice is more tailored and precise.
-What is your approach with herbal medicine?
I am not very knowledgeable about herbal medicine but I am learning little by little. My approach today is mainly to treat the causes and not the effects. Which is what herbal medicine responds to, it seems to me.
-What are your future plans?
My plans are changing. I worked at the hospital for 11 years and today, with my two children, I need a little more family stability. I'm going to work in an ultrasound office for the moment and then we'll see later. I like to think that one day I'll open a center dedicated to women. A place where we can come and share with each other while going to see our practitioner. Just an idea...
