One of our Oregon CNMs, Adria Goodness, now a practicing Psychiatric Mental Health NP, wrote this for us. She has been a huge resource for our Affiliate and we greatly appreciate her sharing this information.
Resilience for Midwives in the time of COVID-19:
Staying resilient, or increasing resilience, as midwives in the time of COVID-19 requires total flexibility with defining what it means to be a "good midwife."
This involves embracing your authentic feelings, shifting thinking habits to match the moment, and doing things differently in your life to cope. The outcome of this work can be decreased suffering, improved function in all of your roles and less vicarious trauma.
Strategies for meeting your feelings under the unusual, intense and pervasive stress of a pandemic:
Greet your feelings by saying, "Hi. I see you despair, joy, grief, fear, anxiety. You have a seat at the table. All of you. At the same time. I accept my feelings."
Invoke a visualization about them. For example, you can picture your feelings as an ocean wave (or labor contraction!) since they arise, crest and return to the sea of emotion within eventually. This acknowledges how our emotional experiences rarely overtake or define us completely and forever.
Let go of judgement about your own emotional responses to living and working during this pandemic. There is no "right way" to feel. In a parallel fashion, refrain from judging others' emotional responses. Our responses to extreme stress are a function of previous trauma, one's unique brain/nervous system, and past and current support. How can any of this culminate in something that is "wrong?"
Cognitive or "thinking" habits that cultivate resilience:
Modify long-held definitions of "good care" or a "good birth"- your own and others". The experience of midwifing during a pandemic is so new. There can be no dogma.
Let go of all of your expectations in order to be open to small moments with women and staff.
Release your sense of responsibility for a particular experience or outcome in order to acknowledge the lack of controlyou have in the big picture of healthcare and birth right now.
Behavioral strategies or what you can do to be more resilient today:
Cry- with a witness, to feel and integrate your own feelings or trauma as they unfold.
Perform rituals- to honor and set down pain, and to celebrate strength and triumph. Music, art and nature support rituals.
Tell stories- to your colleagues, your family, your therapist. This also integrates experiences and emotions into a cohesive psychological narrative that we can retrieve to formulate insight, understanding and compassion, for ourselves and others.
Laugh- to find the absurdity in a moment, if this can be a part of your coping arsenal… and don't feel bad about it. If you are not one to joke or laugh under stress, watch Air Guitar Nation, Elf or Best in Show for a cheaper thrill!
Seek distraction- in a scheduled and dedicated manner- to downregulate your nervous system at intervals.
Sleep enough, and then some- to consolidate experiences and memories, to gain physical and emotional fortitude, to increase energy for creative patient care and self-care.
Go into nature- which offers us a release from confinement, fresh clean air, the hope of Spring and the chance to wave at friendly neighbors.
Accept care and acts of service from others- which is so difficult for midwives, right? We are always caring for others and most comfortable doing so. But right now, we are like the tender new mother that needs encouragement, logistical support and love.
Remember this when working: The small things have never meant more. Good intentions and caring touch, even when they are highly clinical, are felt by the heart.
Adria Goodness, Life Cycle Health and Education