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.