It's standard practice before a surgical procedure in US operating rooms for the charge nurse to call a "time-out" in order to check one last time that the right patient is indeed lying on that bed next to all the knives and that the right place for incision is marked. After a hefty "Hooaaa" from the staff (Army Ranger style) the operation begins. Right now I'm taking a "time-out" to offer a Hooaa of praise to the wonderful nurse, the lifeblood of any hospital or clinic. Were it not for the Women's Instructive Association in Boston at the beginning of the 20th century, there might not have been the OB physician. These nurses banded together and began to treat women in the prenatal period and soon noticed healthy improvements for mom and baby. Thus was born (this pun's for you Bird) the OB's role, conceived in the brains of the great nurses.
