OB/GYN medical professionals specialize in pregnancy and childbirth, abortions, preventative care, reproductive diseases and health, birth control, STIs, menstruation, fertility, and more. They have a powerful role in protecting and supporting reproductive rights and health. I had the honor of interviewing a nurse who specializes in obstetrics and childbirth to provide a better understanding of what their work entails.
24-year-old Lily Verrilli grew up in western Massachusetts and always knew that she would work in healthcare. Without knowing many nurses in her life, she initially imagined herself working in athletic training or the psychology field. Verrilli wanted a career that supported individuals physically and emotionally. It wasn’t until a healthcare course during her senior year of high school when she was fully introduced to nursing and quickly knew it felt right.
After joining the nursing program at Hartwick College - a small liberal arts college in upstate New York - Verrilli eventually started her nursing rotations in various specializations. After an exciting Intensive Care Unit rotation, she was convinced she would end up working as an ICU or emergency room nurse. But, Verrilli completed her obstetrics and labor/delivery rotation shortly after and never looked back.
“I fell in love with labor and delivery after being the first and only nursing student in my group to be in a labor and have a delivery,” said Verrilli.
Verrilli’s first patient––at the age of twenty-one––was the same age as Verrilli. They grew close immediately because they helped each other through the uncertainty of their first experiences: the patient having her first baby and Verrilli helping with her first labor patient.
“Although I was only a student with no experience, we connected immediately. Through a natural unmedicated labor and delivery, the patient always turned to me for support, comfort, and direction as what to do next or how to push more effectively. I have never felt more empowered as a woman, or more empowering to another human being,” said Verrilli.
But, Verrilli’s first delivery took an unexpected turn after the baby’s birth.
“Once she delivered the baby (beautifully), she began to massively hemorrhage. It was quickly decided to move to the OR for extensive measures after none of the typical medications were effective in stopping her bleeding. I have never changed into sterile scrubs so quickly in my life to make it to the OR with her. On the way, she held MY hand, asking ME if she was going to be okay, looking to ME for support and reassurance. In the OR, I watched as the team took the most life saving measures that we take as obstetrics providers. When they finally controlled her bleeding, she was taken to the ICU to stabilize and recover. I returned to the new baby and the family, and they turned to ME for answers about what happened - putting their trust in a mere nursing student. Not only did I fall in love with the beauty and connection that birth is, I also fell in love with pace of labor and delivery - the unknowns of birth, the emergencies that birth can bring, and the fast paced environment,” said Verrilli.
Once Verrilli graduated from her program along with her 31 classmates - only three of whom identified as cis-men - she joined the labor/delivery and postpartum department at the same hospital she assisted in her first delivery. The hospital does not contain a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, so her department is responsible for all newborn babies, no matter their condition, until they are transferred if necessary. In addition to delivery and postpartum responsibilities, her role includes any medical assistance ranging between preventative care and general wellbeing to abortions and birth control.
Because of the opioid epidemic in western Massachusetts, particularly surrounding her town, Verrilli explained that the babies in need of NICU care are typically born already addicted to drugs and experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
“My job is incredibly unpredictable. I could come into work and be given a labor assignment, a postpartum mother/baby assignment (or multiple mother/baby assignments), a GYN patient, or a sick baby in the nursery. We truly never know what we will be handed as an assignment when we get to work on my unit,” said Verrilli.
From Verrilli’s observations over the past three years, the hospital’s patient and staff diversity is limited in class and religion. According to City Data, her town population is approximately 93% white and under 2% of households self-identify as homosexual couples. Verrilli estimates that around 5% of mothers visiting the hospital are single. Majority of the patients the hospital cares for are heterosexual white couples who range from low to middle class.
Verrilli’s average week consists of about four graveyard shifts from either 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM or 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM. She enjoys the night shifts because more babies are born on average during the hospital’s graveyard shifts than the daytime shifts. So, Verrilli has the privilege of assisting many more deliveries despite adapting to a sometimes painful nocturnal schedule.
“My favorite thing about my job is birth, and the connections I make with my patients. Birth is first and foremost the best thing I get to do, but I also really love the follow-up care, teaching, breastfeeding support, and more that we do once our patients deliver their babies,” said Verrilli.
Not only is Verrilli passionate about patient health and support, she involved herself in an ongoing battle at her hospital between the nurses and the hospital administration.
“Last year I became one of the new union representatives for my unit. The nurses in my hospital are part of the Massachusetts Nurses Association and we work with management every three years in improving our nursing union contract. Every time contract negotiations occur, it is a challenge with management. During this past negotiation period, two 24-hour strikes resulted because management would not compromise on basic rights that we had been fighting for. I was on the front lines of these strikes because I feel very passionately about the rights we are fighting to have for both our patients and ourselves,” said Verrilli.
Verrilli shared that despite their efforts, the hospital administration has not been responsive to their strikes and demands.
“I do not see this changing in any capacity at any time soon, and Massachusetts just lost the safe staffing vote that would have truly helped us overcome some of the issues that we have held these strikes over,” said Verrilli.
The safe staffing vote was an effort to control the patient-to-nurse ratio so that nurses are not given too many patients, which overwhelms the nurses and often results in less attentive care to patients. The ballot question and information was confusing to voters who didn’t work in the healthcare system, and many voters did not understand how to vote in support of nurses. The bill failed with a total of approximately 1.8 million votes against the measure.
Whether devoting her career to safe and comfortable reproductive healthcare for her patients or striking on her off days on behalf of her patients and coworkers, Verrilli’s story is empowering because of her drive to develop a career that marries her moral values and career objectives. Since Verrilli had no personal connections to nurses growing up, she did not think of the career as an option for herself. She hopes to demonstrate the incredible opportunities her nursing career provides in feeling empowered, educational, and fulfilled.
In the past I have considered becoming an OB/GYN medical professional as an alternative way to involve myself in reproductive justice. I find these jobs intimidating to join because of the intense schooling and long work hours. Verrilli reminded me that the exhausting effort needed to become a nurse feels more than worth it once you begin building incredible relationships with these patients and coworkers. I hope this blog post demystified this type of work and created a career option to anyone reading this who did not understand the work or were afraid to try!
