My First Delivery

OK - I finally have time to blog. Today was a good day! I spent the whole day in the OR (operating room) with the GYN team. I didn't scrub, as they don't get to do many cases. But, it was good to observe and be able to give suggestions here and there. I also was able to see my first delivery - I just haven't been in the right place at the right time so far. It was a lady that I had seen a couple of times in the outpatient clinic and had sent in for induction yesterday. So, it was nice to see her deliver a healthy, and very large, baby boy. All of the routine deliveries here are done by the midwives, so it was interesting to see how they do it - not too different from how we do it. The only stressful thing for me is that there is no monitoring of the baby during labor. I just kept thinking - wouldn't my call be easier if I didn't have to worry about whether or not a baby was crashing? :) The other thing I realized, as I went back in later to see mom and baby, is how alone women are here. No men are allowed on the maternity ward at all, not even during the postpartum period. Besides a midwife being present for the delivery, no one was there to be with her, to comfort her, to rejoice with her over the life of her new child. She just looked so alone - not quite the joyous scene you usually find in a delivery room. I'm sure that they are used to it, but it sure did make me sad.
I've seen other interesting things here as well. A lady was transferred in from a province about 4 hours away in a semi-comatose state. Two days after she delivered, she complained of a severe headache and then had a seizure. Following that, she couldn't move the right side of her body. She was supposed to come here that day. Instead, her family took her to a mullah (an Islamic holy man), who beat her to try and beat the evil spirits out of her. She is now clinging to life and almost completely unresponsive. It just breaks my heart that if these people would have better access to care, things like this could be avoided.
So, things have been busy. The OB fellows here (have finished residency, getting one year of extra training) are full of questions and eager to learn. They want me to give lectures on all kinds of things, most of which I can't give off the top of my head. So, this weekend (Friday and Saturday), I will be working on lectures. I am forming good relationships with them, though, and hope that I am more a help than a hinderance.
It is starting to get cold here now. At night it is in the 30's and during the day in the 60's. Thankfully, we just had heaters installed in our rooms yesterday.
So, that's what's going on with me. I hope everyone is doing well. Keep the comments coming - it makes my day when I read them.