November 15th, 2010
hospital..
today was a day of first's. It was the first time i have worked in a hospital, the first time i have seen a live birth, 8 births to be exact. the first time i have experienced a high adrenaline rush where i am needed for 4 hours straight, and the first time i have seen an over abundance of fluids coming out of a.... well you get the picture.
There were many stories i could tell about today but i will share three that stick out in my mind.
Story #1:
Six of the students including myself and Melisa, our leader, were in the labour room checking on women and their deliveries. After an hour of being there, I saw a woman come in and run to the bed with one of the nurses following close behind and i thought i should check this out since it seemed to be an emergency. She literally hopped on the bed, spread her legs and fluids bursted out of her, pee...water..amniotic fluid and meconium. For some reason there was a lady in labor as well lying on the ground right next to the bed and the fluids spilled onto her. I quickly grabbed a kanga (a cloth wrap that all women wear here) to wipe it all off of the women on the grounds arm and moved her to a bed after it was cleaned with disgusting rags.
The condition of the labour ward is another story and don't know if i can expand on the moment but lets just say cleanliness is not first priority.
#2:
there are 2 sides of the labour room where deliveries are taking place. I was walking from one side to the other and saw Celia, one of my teammates, looking at one of the women who was having a contraction and all of a sudden i see liquid shoot out and she had to jump out of the way to not get it all over her. The woman's water had broke, and then they thought they saw the chord coming out which is a dangerous sign indicating the baby.. or...
but then realized it was a foot meaning it was a breech. Usually the doctor and nurses aren't there unless it is an emergency and in this case they were present. There was the doctor pulling the baby out and after the baby was pulled out until the shoulders, the nurse got on the bed above the woman and pushed on the woman's stomach forcefully trying to get the head out. The woman was in excruciating pain, as you can imagine, but fortunately the baby came out after pulling, shoving and pushing. The baby was blue and not breathing so they got the oxygen air thing.... and it began to breathe after much distress.
Most of the hospital staff are very friendly and helpful. Unfortunately the nurse i worked with was a bit aggressive with the women and babies and if the babies would scream it would get slapped or yelled at and same went for the women. I pray that our attitudes and the way we treat the women would rub off on these nurses that are there everyday and are a bit burnt out.
#3:
after being there for 4 hours straight, we were already a half hour late in catching the dala dala (a van or small bus jam packed with people) so i was washing my hands and heard a woman screaming for the nurse over and over again and wasn't going to check because we needed to go, but there were no nurses around to help, so i peeked my head to see if there was a problem she couldn't handle and she still had her kanga wrapped around her but she there was something moving in between her legs underneath her skirt. I lifted her skirt only to find a baby half way out! I yelled for Melisa who was filling out papers and the only other one in the labour room. She quickly put on gloves and pulled out the rest of the baby. I assisted her with cutting the umbilical chord and clamping so blood didn't go all over the wall like the last woman that was in that bed (there was blood still there from an hour earlier). I went to weigh the baby and it was very healthy and weighed in at 3 kilos.
It was an eventful first day at the hospital. I realized that God is in control of every situation and every life that comes into this world. I prayed for many women and many babies, but ultimaltely i need to put them in God's hands because i won't know the outcome. Although i did see some skinny, unhealthy babies come out of the womb today on November 15th, 2010 i didn't see any dead babies and i am grateful to God for that. It was a day of life and excitement. Ready for the same thing tomorrow!
