“Would you be my labour partner?” is not an invitation I ever expected to receive. Being a woman, I’d always thought of myself in labour scenarios as the one in labour rather than the one beside her. But receive such a request I did! Because Weizhen’s hubby is currently stationed overseas, she asked me to be the “if baby decides to arrive early” labour partner.
Because the request was over SMS, it didn’t feel huge, and I replied her in the affirmative without any hesitation. Of course I’ll be happy to be there for her! It was an honour to be asked! Of course I’m sure it helped that I didn’t have a day job so presumably it’d be much easier for me to rush to her side when that ‘911’ message comes.
But all of a sudden, I started feeling how a husband with an expectant wife must feel like. I’m starting to think, what if she goes into labour at work? That’s not bad cos she’d be so close to the hospital already and I can get to Novena fairly quickly. What if it’s in the middle of the night? She lives in Seng Kang and I’m in Bukit Batok! Has she packed her overnight bag? Hey should I pack an overnight bag? Snacks?
Should I be going for antenatal classes? Where can I find out tips on being a labour partner?
Don’t worry, Zhen, I’m not panicking. Just in my usual pre-event ‘battle order’ mode. I’ll interview Jiafu and Wing Kwong to glean gems from their recent ‘battle experiences’. At least I know that if I do end up holding your hand while you’re going through contractions, you won’t be yelling at me for getting you into that state. I can bring a video cam to tape the yelling for Zhiwei though! :P
*************
If anyone has labour experiences to share with respect to what a labour partner can/should do that help the mother, please share! Would appreciate it very much!
Journey of the Heart 
Labour partner ah, of course need to bring things :)
You will need to help her to do the admin stuff, so it will help if she passes you her IC and details like which Medisave to use etc. But of course, you can always take the form first :) And you may need to pay a deposit of a few hundred dollars first :) You will need to pass the registration counter the letter of admission and the mother’s IC :)
Off the top of my head, here’s what you need to prepare for yourself:
1. Water
2. Jacket (cos can get quite cold)
3. some snacks (cos can get quite long and you may get hungry)
4. camera
5. presumably the mother would have bought her own entertainment (for distraction), but you could also bring some (for yourself too… i only brought my ipod, and even then i didn’t use it :)
You must tell the mother to relax (should be quite relaxed, since she’s asking for epidural :D).. and get ready to cry when the baby comes out :) And yah, to sms all of us!