- So when you're performing a C-section,
how big do you make the incision?
- You should guess.
- Is this 10 centimeters?
- Yeah, that looks about right.
- Really? - (shouts in excitement)
- I'm just wondering.
How do you know this?
- Grey's Anatomy.
- Oh my.
- I told you it would pay off.
(upbeat music)
- Hi. - Hi.
- I'm Jules.
- I'm Jamie.
- Nice to meet you.
- Good to meet you.
Do you know what we're here to talk about today?
- Well, I can't tell by anything you're wearing.
- I do a certain type of job that can be
in the hospital or at home.
- Are you a doctor?
- I'm like a doctor.
So I'm a midwife.
- What is that?
- So a midwife, in general, takes care of women
during pregnancy and during labor.
And mainly, I just catch the baby
when it comes out of the mom.
- Oh, I did not know that.
- Do you remember how you were born?
- Do remember? - No, we do not remember.
- Were you told?
What have you heard about your own birth, how about that?
- I was easier, right?
- No, I was easier.
I just had more bruising. - He was faster.
- Are you a mom?
- I'm not.
I've just been delivering all these babies.
Can you guess how many I've delivered?
- I'm gonna guess in the hundreds.
- Oh God, it's gonna be a really big number.
- Do you keep a tally of this?
- I do keep a tally of this.
- You personally or the hospital?
- I keep the tally.
- Oh, my goodness.
- And the hospital does too. - Okay, let me ask you,
how many years have you been working?
- 12.
- Okay, so let's say you do 20 babies a month.
12 years.
- Don't forget I have vacation months too.
- Oh boy.
- 1,500.
- It's 800.
- 800? - 800?
- Do you work a lot?
- I feel like I work a lot.
My shift is 24 hours long.
- 24/7?
- Not 24/7.
- Oh, that's good.
You still get some break time.
- I get some breaks.
- How long is your break time?
- Good question.
I have a little sleep room in the hospital so I can go
and take a nap. - Is it called
the on-call room?
- It's called the on-call room.
- What's the longest you've gone without sleeping?
- Maybe two whole days.
How long have you gone without sleeping?
- One time I was doing Lego all the way until
4 o'clock in the morning.
- Holy smokes.
- We got a lot done that night.
- How much do you know about babies?
- Probably quite a bit.
Do you have a question for me?
- Can you throw a baby up?
Like ... (barf sound)
- No, I've never seen that.
Usually the babies come out through the vagina.
Well, anyways.
- Is it hard handling babies?
- Yes cause they're very slippery.
- Eww.
- A little bit of blood.
A little bit of amniotic fluid.
Have you heard of that before?
- No.
- It's the pool that the baby's living in.
So that's the balloon that bursts open
during the birth process when the baby comes.
- What breaks it open?
Is it the baby kicking at it?
- Yeah. - Oh really?
- Sometimes it's the baby kicking it.
Sometimes I can break the bag of waters.
- What do you break it with?
- This cool, little crochet of hook.
Nobody can feel it.
The baby can't feel.
The mom can't feel it.
- After the baby comes out,
does something else comes out too?
- The placenta.
Have you heard of the placenta?
- No, what is that?
- So the placenta is this organ that's about yay size.
Like a big, big hamburger.
Like about this big. - (squeals)
- What? - And it's attached
to the inside of the uterus in one little spot.
- What do people normally do with the placenta?
- So, most people choose for the hospital to dispose of it.
But some people are saving it now.
They take it, make it really small and then put it in
a pill and then the women will swallow the pill
and it's got nutrients in it like a vitamin.
And it makes her feel better.
I know.
Rarely do they cook it, maybe, and eat it.
- That's interesting.
Have you ever tasted one?
- I have not.
Do you want to taste one?
- No. - Me either.
- What's the grossest part of delivering a baby?
- Well, there's some poop that comes out.
- Wait, really?
- Yeah, cause you're pushing so hard, right?
- Yes.
- Wait, the mom poops?
Oh yeah. - Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Has there ever been a sad delivery?
- Yeah, sometimes there's sad deliveries.
Like when a mom has a baby that she didn't really want
to be pregnant with. - Oh yeah.
- It can be sad and happy because the adoptive parents
are there and they get to see their baby be born.
But then it's kind of sad for the women
that is gonna give up her baby.
- Have one of the babies died while they were giving birth?
- Not during birth.
- What about during pregnancy?
- Sometimes the baby does die during pregnancy.
So as a midwife, I have to help them
through that process too.
- Is that hard?
- It is hard.
It's kind of like being part of life coming in
but also being part of life coming out.
- Can men and boys be midwives?
- They can.
- Are they called midhusbands?
- Nope, they're still called midwives.
- Oh.
- Midwife stands for with women.
- Oh. - So, it's whoever.
What do you think about becoming a midwife?
- A lot of hard work. - A lot of hard work.
- Research. - Research.
- You got to focus.
- Brooklyn, do you want to have any kids?
- Yes.
- Oh, awesome.
How many kids?
- Start with one and if it's twins, that's okay.
But I'll just start with one.
- Now, would you like to have your children
in a hospital or at home?
- At the hospital.
- At the hospital? - Yeah, more safe.
- Safer.
- If you had any children, would you want another midwife
to deliver it or would you actually try to?
- I would probably have another midwife do it.
- Oh yeah.
- But maybe I'd stick my hands down there real quick too.
Have you learned anything new today?
- Yes. - Oh good.
Good to meet you. - Very nice to meet you.
- Good to meet you.
Bye. - Bye Jamie.
- Hi, I'm Jamie.
Certified nurse midwife.
Thank you for watching Kids Meet a Midwife.
If you want to learn more about midwifery,
check for a link down below.
And subscribe to hiho.
Bye bye.