We’re going to get down to the nitty gritty of what it REALLY means to be “on call.”

This is the shit no one really talks about. The “small” things that people just do and don’t even think about.

As a birth worker, I have to seriously weigh my options and my schedule when it comes to these things. How close is my next client due? Do I have multiple clients due? Are any of them stirring (having signs that labor might start soon)? Where are my clients birthing and how quickly can I get to their place if they call me?

It is exhausting.

An Oil Change/tire rotation/mechanical fix

Literally ANYTHING to do with my car.

My car is my life line to clients.

I have to put it off until I’m not on call. And if I can’t, I have to hope and freaking pray to the birth gods that none of my clients go into labor, or if they do, that its not a precipitous birth (super quick birth).

If I do take my car in (Betty the Burb 😉), my husband goes on call as well. If someone goes into labor, he now has to bring my son and pick me up. I let the mechanic know that I have to leave for a client and will come pick my car up the following day or the next and pay for it then. We drive home where I drop him off and grab my gear (because I’m not leaving my camera gear in my car when it’s in the shop getting work done) and then head out.

Kind of a shit show isn’t it? 😂

Constipation

OMG. So this is totally TMI but whatever, it needs to be talked about when it comes to what being on call ACTUALLY looks like.

Everyone deals with occasional constipation. Mine has gotten worse after the birth of my son unfortunately (along with those wonderful gifts of hemorrhoids 🙄). But if I’m call, I can’t really take any laxative. And if I do, again I’m praying to the freaking birth gods that no one goes into labor otherwise I have to call in my backup.

Talk about a shitty situation.

Bah dum stch.

Staying up late

It is a conscious effort to not allow myself to stay up late. I’ve gotten in the habit of taking naps during the day when my son goes down for his nap but if I don’t get that nap, I’m running on little sleep.

Most people don’t think twice about starting a movie late or even just staying up late in general. I struggle with this one personally though because I’m a night owl. I do most of my work/editing/everything at night. I always have. But it makes life on call as a birth worker a little more difficult.

I HAVE to be conscious of how much sleep I get. I need to be functional if a client goes into labor.

Holiday due dates

When I get inquiries around the holidays or birthdays, I sit down with my husband to talk about it before I even respond back to the inquiry. We have a serious heart to heart about what it would look like if a client were to go into labor during Christmas, Thanksgiving, or one our birthdays. If I were to get called to a birth, how would my family feel? What is our priority at that time? Did we have a vacation planned or a special experience booked for our family?

In my 3 years as a birth worker so far, I’ve attended a birth on my birthday and spent New Years with a client in labor. But my family knows that my client’s come first (unless it’s a family emergency) and that I would need to leave to be with them. It’s all a part of the job. It’s a part of my support and devotion to my clients and their birth experiences.

My husband has always been super supportive of my passion and career choice, but his opinion is just as important to me when making decisions about what guess dates I accept. ESPECIALLY around the holidays.

Appointments

This goes for literally any appointment, doctors, dentists, specialists, hair or nails (pre-covid), and even other prenatal appointments for clients.

I have to let all my clients know when I have appointments so they know what part of the area I’m going to be in. Since many of the doctors and dentists that my family sees are an hour away from me.

Again, I’m making plans for if a client goes into labor of who I can call as a back up if things are moving fast until I get there (if I get there on time) or how quickly I can get to my clients if they were to go into labor.

not traveling

No vacations. Not traveling father than a 15 minute radius of my house unless necessary (like a doctors/dentist appointment) so that if someone goes into labor and I can race back home and drop my son off (if he’s with me) or just head to my client if I’m needed at that point. Yes many times there’s a lull for me after being told that labor has begun, but there are a few times where when I’m first notified that labor has begun I need to race out of my house.

but it’s all worth it

Even with all the craziness of trying to figure out when I can fit in the necessities while being on call, it’s all totally worth it.

I’m sure I can think of so many more things to talk about but these were the top few that came to my mind. And it’s typically all things people don’t realize that birth workers go through. Like not taking in your car for an oil change? It’s a good thing they have a 2,000 mile grace period in those oil change recommendations 😂