Sleep

Being up all night at a birth, waking up after a long day after only a few hours sleep to a phone call from a woman in labor. How do we midwives do it? We just do! If a person can not cope with this then being a midwife is not the right work for them. They might try being a midwife in a Practice that let's them only be on call during the day but... Good luck finding partners who are ok with covering all the nights. I find I often need two nights of super long nights, to make up for one lost one. It is hard for me to sleep in most mornings. I tend to turn in early if I know I need extra sleep. The curative power of walking in fresh air can not be underestimated for restoring the mind and body.