My Experience At The Mountain View Hospital - 2263 Words

Reflection This semester I volunteered my time at the Mountain View Hospital in the Women’s Department, specifically in the postpartum section. I chose this volunteer opportunity because it significantly relates to my career path and passion. I am biological sciences major and Psychology minor (pre-medical) and the goal of my medical career is to become an Obstetrician/gynecologist and then potentially specialize in the fertility and infertility of women. Throughout the course of this semester I would volunteer at Mountain View on Friday evenings. My main job in the postpartum section was to attend to the basic needs of the new mothers, I would provide water, ice chips, snacks, and clean linens when needed. I manned the main entrance of†¦show more content†¦However, I can do other things to provide care, compassion, and relief to the post-partum mothers. On one of my days volunteering I had a particularly nice experience, which reflects how volunteers can provide a service to their community through small acts of kindness. A mother just had her third child, her other two children, who seemed to be no older that 5 or 6 years old, were restless and quite out of control. There was a male figure who came and went a few times, but he didn’t seem to have any attachment to the other two children. The mother seemed overwhelmed probably because of the exhaustion and stress of childbirth. Also, she was stuck in bed while her incisions from her C section healed. According to the nurses, she was only permitted to walk a lap around the nurse’s station every few hours, let alone chase around her other rowdy children. So I had an idea: in the post-partum department we have these wagons that are decorated with characters from Winnie the Pooh and Finding Nemo. To offer the mother some rest, I asked if I could pull her children around the Women’s Department in the wagon. The mother accepted my offer and I loaded the two children, Leah and Ryder, into the wagon. I pulled the two kids around for about 45 minutes. When I came back to the mother’s room, she thanked me many times. It was personally rewarding to help the mother, even though it was just a small gesture. I do not see the volunteer coordinator