I think that one of my favorite parts about working at Kowak Hospital is that we've been able to "help" deliver a few babies. While adjusting to nursing in rural Africa took some time, we've definitely reached that point where for most crazy instances, we can just shrug our shoulders, say "Oh well!" and get on with whatever we are doing. I use "most" because whenever we think we've seen it all, something crazier walks through the door (for example, a thumb so infected the bone was sticking out and the tip had almost fallen off!), but that's the fun part of nursing. I'd say the one exception to that might be delivering babies. Each time has been an adventure...and it's just a little different than in the States! We'd thought it'd be fun to share some of our experiences ;-)
Unlike the States, it is mostly nurse midwives who deliver the babies, the doctor will only come near the delivery room if there is a life-threatening problem, and then the mother is usually transferred to another hospital. I wish we could fully set the scene of the delivery room. There are 2 delivery beds (so if 2 moms come in at once, they have their babies together!), which are covered with a big plastic tarp that is "washed" and reused for each birth...yea. The equipment is pretty old, worn out and quasi-sterile, and our emergency supplies consist of a suction bulb for the babies. And while we've found the whole situation a little shocking in comparison to the States, I just want to say that we've only had successful deliveries since we've been here.
An important piece of equipment to help deliver the baby here is The Kanga. I guess most women realize this, because they normally come with a bunch of them. They're used for almost anything, from wiping up from poop and amniotic fluid (no disposable Chucks or hospital towels here!) to swaddling the new born baby after delivery. One time, I guess the mom hadn't brought enough kangas with her, because we had to donate the one we were wearing at the time to help clean the mom (good thing we were wearing legging underneath!). And we thought they were just good for tying babies to your back!
I think one of the craziest parts is their attitudes towards the deliveries. The moms get no pain medicine (maybe a Tylenol afterwards), and are expected to deliver without really yelling or complaining at all. I was recently helping out with one delivery, and the mom was screaming and squirming during the contractions. The nurse and the hospital cleaning lady (still not sure why she was even there helping out) were slapping the mom and shouting, "Shut your mouth" while trying make her lay still and physically keep her mouth shut! I just stood there, with wide eyes, hoping that the baby didn't come out while they were otherwise distracted! After the delivery, we were joking about how the mom had yelled, the nurse promptly declared, "Beat the mom, save the baby!" Not a strategy I would have previously endorsed, but it seems to work pretty well here!
We could keep going with more stories, but the blog would get pretty long! So a couple last highlights/crazy aspects include: making the mistake of standing at the end of the bed when the mom's water breaks, forcing the mom to get up and walk to her bed right after delivering, holding the babies upside-down by their feet to make them cry, helping tie the umbilical clamp (apiece of gauze) and cutting the cord or hearing the nurse yell at the moms for pooping too much. And of course, getting to hold all the newborn babies!
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