Career Day

Today was my first offical "appearance" as a midwife! It was fun. We have an outreach high school in town, some of the students are pregnant and parenting teens, and some are kids who can't go to school for other reasons. As far as I know it's a really good program.
So today I went as a midwife for a "career day" type presentation. My sis goes to the school because of the freedom she has there - and she's the one who got me this strange gig.
It felt really odd to sit in a chair in front of this gathering of girls and to be the centre of attention, and supposedly the one with all the answers! Not to mention that I was representing a career I am only entering and one that is as diverse as midwifery.
A difficulty with the whole thing is that at least half of these girls are pregnant and/or have kids. Which means that birth attendants and other birth choices are two things that are very real to them. But up here in the North, there are no midwives available to them. The only care available up here is a very busy hospital system, and for the lucky few the care of the one doula in town. I had to be careful because for these women - there will be no midwives, at least not now. Instead they will be attended by whatever doctor they can get into, or whichever one is on call - which isn't always what they would choose.
I hope that the future soon brings midwives to GP. And maybe even one or more of these girls will be moved to enter the profession. What I do see is that there is a very real need here at home.