Labor & delivery nurse finally gives birth—what shocked her the most
They say experience is the best teacher, and for nurse practitioner and long-time labor & delivery (L&D) nurse @hijabiluscious, actually giving birth for the first time was a masterclass in humility. In a viral TikTok with over 69,000 views, she reflects on how being on the other side of the delivery room gave her a whole new perspective on what her patients go through.
You don’t have to give birth to be a good L&D nurse—but it changes everything
Before anyone comes for her, she makes it clear: “I am not saying you have to give birth to be a good labor and delivery nurse.” Just like ICU nurses don’t need to have had a heart attack to provide great care. But her personal experience? It rocked her.
Related: 10 things your labor and delivery nurse truly wants you to know
Sleep? What sleep?
She admits, “I underestimated how much a lack of sleep in the hospital affects everything.” Despite a “painless” first day of induction with Cytotec, she couldn’t sleep. The lights were off, but the beeping alarms, emergency codes, and background chaos didn’t care. By the time she was ready to push, she had been awake for 36 hours straight.
Pushing Is an olympic sport no one trains for
Looking back, she says, “Before my experience, I had completely underestimated how much energy it actually takes to push.” “If I had insomnia at home, I wouldn’t work out the next day,” she says. “But here I was, expected to push a baby for three hours while on no sleep.” And while her epidural took the edge off Pitocin contractions, it didn’t erase the shakes, the rectal pressure, or the overwhelming exhaustion.
The big lie: Pressure ≠ pain
One lesson hit her hard: “That pressure does not equal pain. Yes, the hell it does.” While her epidural worked, the rectal pressure while pushing was very much a feeling—one she describes as “a boulder at my butt.” She recalls, “So by 2:00 a.m. when it was time to push for me, I had not slept in 36 hours and I had not eaten in over 20 hours… so my ability to push was running on sheer willpower and delusion.”
Would she do it again? Absolutely
Despite it all, she jokes, “And I just might do the same thing all over again in two years because postpartum amnesia is real.” If nothing else, her firsthand experience only deepened her compassion for the patients she’s spent years supporting.
TL;DR: Labor is no joke, epidurals aren’t magic, and nurses deserve all the respect in the world—especially the ones who’ve been there themselves.
Related: Saying ‘thank you’ doesn’t feel like enough—why I’m so grateful for my labor and delivery nurses
