SFWG Study Hall

Having gone through two (in the sense of being present, not the one birthing, obviously!) I would have to say that the circumstances are going to dictate what the character chooses to describe.

Both of my children were emergency c-sections. The first child was relatively straightforward, and for that, I mostly remember holding my wife's hand, plus an enormous number of details (for example, she had a reaction to one of the medicines and shook uncontrollably for a while). It wasn't an event so much as an effort. Everything was about keeping her calm (and keeping her morale up, as she was very upset that she wasn't getting to deliver normally as planned) while the doctors worked.

The second child was a much more intense situation. My wife was in critical condition, our child was distressed and they had a team of six extra people jammed into the room to take care of him the instant he was delivered, while I was doing my utmost not to let my wife know I was terrified out of my skull, so I could help keep her from being terrified out of hers. From then until 24 hours later, when they finally moved her out of the CCU, I was just working moment-to-moment. and the whole thing really was a blur to me.

I think what I'm trying to say is, the circumstances of the birth and the mental state of your character are everything. Is this the first one she assisted with, or is it just another day at the office for her? In the first case, she has got to be going through emotions, and I think those are more what you need to describe than the event itself. For example, this is the first she's witnessed, and she's just to the age where she recognizes this could be her, some day, it has got to be different than if she's witnessed before, and just now getting to help (it's more about her growing up experience now... mom's trusting her to assist)

In the second case, it will be like for a medical professional. An easy birth is practically a non-event, while a difficult birth is going to be all about the complications, not the birth.

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Regards,
Eric Fretheim
(Eric The Fred)