Where's the doctor?
Her previous three children had been delivered in the United States. And this one would have, too, had her labour not started early while she was visiting relatives in this country. Everything was progressing well and there was nothing to worry about, but she kept asking: "When is the Doctor coming?" I tried to explain that here the obstetrician is only called if there is some cause for concern. However, this didn't seem to satisfy her.
The labour progressed rapidly and we soon reached the point where she wanted to start pushing. And that was the point where she completely lost it. "Get the Doctor now!" she screamed. "Why?" I asked. "Because I must have my general anaesthetic!" When I tried to find out the reason she felt she needed this, it turned out that her previous children had been born by forceps under complete anaesthesia. I quickly tried to think what I could do to reassure her. "Look, I can already see the baby's head!", I said, taking her hand and putting it on its crown. "Just bear down!" Five minutes later the child was in her arms. "I wish my other births had been like this one", she wistfully reflected afterwards. "I never believed I could do it!"
