a week i’ll never forget for sure....
monday started off okay, with our morning test and lectures all day. started learning about eclampsia. something that you don’t hear of often but a very relevant problem in pregnancy. starts off with a high blood pressure and can lead into the women fitting. (seizure) i’ve seen a few cases here in Tanzania, only once have i actually been there while a women was fitting on the bed.... a scary situation. we are now learning how to notice it, test for it and treat it. its difficult because there is no way to know ahead of time if the women will have eclampsia, you kinda just have to know the signs that can lead up to it and educate her, and her family and make sure she is getting regular check ups.
tuesday i was not feeling well and ended up staying home. it was great to get to just rest. i slept for nearly five hours! much needed rest, and i felt much better afterward as well. wednesday was not too bad of a day, anc this week, started off the morning with doing ve’s and check ups on women. it was a holiday so that of course meant less staff. the doctor there told us not to do ve’s just on women who were having strong contractions.... well we thought that silly and just because it was a holiday these women should still get proper check ups, so with us running the show we did full check ups. it was very busy, the labour room was having overflow so we had a delivery in anc which i assisted in. (taking the baby) many women were there, some beds held over five women and there were more overflowing onto the floor. to walk through the anc side you have to literally watch each step to ensure you don’t step on someone.
i don’t usually share about the times outside the hospital, mainly because there not that much to say, filled with group prayer times, worship, some lectures, and study nights. but this particular wednesday i guess i should share. a story of God’s protection and grace. i don’t want this to be taken the wrong way of cause fear into anyone but i do think it is a great testimony of how big my God is!
the night started off as any other, i was getting ready for bed, when i heard these ‘booms’ outside, it had been raining a lot earlier that week and at first i assumed it was thunder... after it continued i told Naomi i was a little scared and thought they sounded like bombs. she ensured me it was thunder. at this time it was just after nine, and we were both scheduled for prayer chain at ten, so we thought we just rest a bit and then get up to pray. i crawled into bed with her still feeling uneasy when one of our staff knocked on our door. she explained that the armory outside of town had caught fire and all the ammunition was being shot off as a result. the government asked that everyone go outside there homes so if any of the bombs or missiles were to come in our direction we could run... not exactly what you want to hear. so we went outside with the rest of the group and everyone started praying like crazy. they had told us the armory was only 10km from us, but later we found out that it would have had to be further. but from outside you could see the red sky and watch some of the bombs and debris fly up into the sky. most stayed relatively far away but a few were heard nearer, one in particular shook the ground we stood on. we prayed and prayed, it was funny cause you never know what your gonna do in a situation like that and everyone handles it differently. some made jokes about us having to run, some grabbed their passports incase a bomb hit our home, some just continued staring at the sky and praying and me, i cried! i prayed constantly but was in no place to make jokes. around 10:30 they finally died down and we were given word that we could return into our house.
they don’t know how it caught fire, but in the last ten years this is the third time something like this has happened. apparently people in the area of the blasts were running. we have a friend who was traveling past the place and he joined in the run and just ran. trucks were overloaded with people getting away and the stadium was housing people who lived nearby. over a hundred children were split up from their parents, people lost limbs and had severe injuries from the debris that flew. some lost their homes and thirty people lost their lives that night. i’ve looked at a few newspapers and some of the pictures are terrible. the hospital that we work at had a list of all bomb victims posted on the gate so family members could locate their loved ones. some of the staff have gone to help, the red cross is also here offering help. i know they had 150 children as of thursday that had been separated, i hope by now parents have been able to locate them. please be praying for these that have lost so much because of wednesday night.
thursday and friday were insane days at the hospital. the labour ward was overfilled with women on the floor and anc continued to fill with women. friday we had three beds for checkups going on and there ended up being three more deliveries in anc. in labour ward our school did eight deliveries, never before have we done that many deliveries in one day! partly full moon this week and partly because of the bomb that can set off stress in the mom’s that can onset labour. i don’t know what the hospital would have done had we not been there. i’m sure when its that busy babies are born on their own and staff come just to cut the cord and finish up the delivery.
saturday, day off, went to a market/shopping area with some people from my team. it was a really nice day, had a grilled cheese for lunch! (delicacy here for me as cheese is pretty expensive) and looked around at the shops. went to a market and met some really nice people. one man was an artist and painted amazing portraits. i made an order with him as there was one painting that three of us really liked. so two of us ordered another and one bought it. it was of five african women with babies slung on their back. a good representation of why i am here doing what i’m doing! i’m excited to pick it up in the next couple weeks. its relatively small but colourful and its made by him.
i’m in labour ward next week for the last time hear in Tanzania.... i’m sad cause its my favorite place here, but excited for whats next!
till next time...
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
week thirty two - labour ward
another full week, as it usually is, especially when i’m in the labour ward. monday was all day lectures including learning suturing, practicing on fabric and next week on meat.... yes should be interesting! i already have been able to suture before so its good to continue to practice and learn more of a technique. tuesday we headed out to the hospital.
tuesday was a busy day, its funny how as i sit to write this on sunday, trying to recall the week the days just seem to mesh together. i remember i did a delivery on tuesday, little girl! the mom was so excited! thats my favorite after the baby’s out and you place them on their mamma’s tummy and you look at her face and she’s all smiles so excited! thanking you and thanking God for her baby! it was so busy that day that my partner wasn’t able to help me right away so the baby just chilled on its mom throughout the rest of the delivery till someone could come and take the baby for her vitals and to be weighed. i think its neat when everything goes well and the baby and mom can just be together for a bit. she needed only a few sutures and i got to do them! went relatively well. some difficulty getting started because at first we didn’t have any of the drug that freezes the women. and many women needed suturing that day. terrible thought to suture without freezing first. the women are in so much pain, all cuz the hospital has ran out of supplies. i don’t know how but we were able to obtain some so she was able to be frozen, thank you God!
wednesday i stayed and monitored a women for the entire day. she had been in labour for quite some while and i was getting concerned cuz her contractions weren’t progressing very well. by the end of the day she still wasn’t getting any further so after discussing things with the doctor we put an IV in her to give her body more energy, they were gonna continue monitoring her after we left, all i could do was pray that she would be able to deliver her baby and it would be okay. (the baby’s heart rate had dropped since earlier that morning) i went back the next day and checked the paperwork and she had delivered a healthy baby boy!
thursday, was a good day. i was able to monitor a women early on then do the delivery mid morning! another little girl. its neat cuz i felt that morning a name for a little girl, (whenever a baby is born we pray over them and ask God if he has a specific name for them) and on the way to the hospital i felt there’d be a little girl and her name was to be Angelina Faith. so as soon as i saw she was a girl, i thanked God that i could give her this name. (the name is for us to be praying for them, its not necessarily the name the parents give. sometimes they ask us but most of the time the baby isn’t named for a few weeks after birth) it was a really good and quick delivery. spent the rest of that day taking vitals of mom and baby and doing paperwork!
friday was another really busy day. right off the hop i went to monitor a women and she was asking me to push. i had been told she was only 8cm dilated and usually you don’t encourage pushing quite yet cuz she can tear, but this women was 40 years old and it was her sixth child. you’d think she’d know her body and when to push, also because she’d had so many babies her body will dilate a lot faster. i was told just to check and make sure it was okay to push but when i went to check she was done with asking to push and just started pushing. so as i’m trying to feel for any reason not to push (trying not to use words that some may not want to hear!) that baby was moving down quickly. within one push she had gotten its head and shoulders out. baby didn’t even turn as they usually do so the shoulders can come out in the right way, and before i knew it one big baby boy was born! she was very happy and enjoyed holding him on her tummy. everything went really good. the rest of the day was chaos, helping others in their births. a breech baby born, and just babies coming all over the place! lots of paperwork and vitals to take, beds overflowing and women needing to be transferred. one of those days that when you leave you feel like you still need to be moving and doing things.... a good day though, i prefer them busy over slow. makes things exciting!
saturday was a chill day. watched a lot of movies and hung out with people. power was out for some time in the evening and is out right now as i right this. this morning (sunday) we went to church as a team. the same church we went to last week although this time EVERYBODY came! it was a good service and during it started pouring rain. so nice after it being over a month where it hasn’t rained at all. it poured and filled the streets as we drove home it was slow going but we made it fine. i’m thinking about taking a nap before dinner and before another full week! thanks for your prayers!
till next time...
tuesday was a busy day, its funny how as i sit to write this on sunday, trying to recall the week the days just seem to mesh together. i remember i did a delivery on tuesday, little girl! the mom was so excited! thats my favorite after the baby’s out and you place them on their mamma’s tummy and you look at her face and she’s all smiles so excited! thanking you and thanking God for her baby! it was so busy that day that my partner wasn’t able to help me right away so the baby just chilled on its mom throughout the rest of the delivery till someone could come and take the baby for her vitals and to be weighed. i think its neat when everything goes well and the baby and mom can just be together for a bit. she needed only a few sutures and i got to do them! went relatively well. some difficulty getting started because at first we didn’t have any of the drug that freezes the women. and many women needed suturing that day. terrible thought to suture without freezing first. the women are in so much pain, all cuz the hospital has ran out of supplies. i don’t know how but we were able to obtain some so she was able to be frozen, thank you God!
wednesday i stayed and monitored a women for the entire day. she had been in labour for quite some while and i was getting concerned cuz her contractions weren’t progressing very well. by the end of the day she still wasn’t getting any further so after discussing things with the doctor we put an IV in her to give her body more energy, they were gonna continue monitoring her after we left, all i could do was pray that she would be able to deliver her baby and it would be okay. (the baby’s heart rate had dropped since earlier that morning) i went back the next day and checked the paperwork and she had delivered a healthy baby boy!
thursday, was a good day. i was able to monitor a women early on then do the delivery mid morning! another little girl. its neat cuz i felt that morning a name for a little girl, (whenever a baby is born we pray over them and ask God if he has a specific name for them) and on the way to the hospital i felt there’d be a little girl and her name was to be Angelina Faith. so as soon as i saw she was a girl, i thanked God that i could give her this name. (the name is for us to be praying for them, its not necessarily the name the parents give. sometimes they ask us but most of the time the baby isn’t named for a few weeks after birth) it was a really good and quick delivery. spent the rest of that day taking vitals of mom and baby and doing paperwork!
friday was another really busy day. right off the hop i went to monitor a women and she was asking me to push. i had been told she was only 8cm dilated and usually you don’t encourage pushing quite yet cuz she can tear, but this women was 40 years old and it was her sixth child. you’d think she’d know her body and when to push, also because she’d had so many babies her body will dilate a lot faster. i was told just to check and make sure it was okay to push but when i went to check she was done with asking to push and just started pushing. so as i’m trying to feel for any reason not to push (trying not to use words that some may not want to hear!) that baby was moving down quickly. within one push she had gotten its head and shoulders out. baby didn’t even turn as they usually do so the shoulders can come out in the right way, and before i knew it one big baby boy was born! she was very happy and enjoyed holding him on her tummy. everything went really good. the rest of the day was chaos, helping others in their births. a breech baby born, and just babies coming all over the place! lots of paperwork and vitals to take, beds overflowing and women needing to be transferred. one of those days that when you leave you feel like you still need to be moving and doing things.... a good day though, i prefer them busy over slow. makes things exciting!
saturday was a chill day. watched a lot of movies and hung out with people. power was out for some time in the evening and is out right now as i right this. this morning (sunday) we went to church as a team. the same church we went to last week although this time EVERYBODY came! it was a good service and during it started pouring rain. so nice after it being over a month where it hasn’t rained at all. it poured and filled the streets as we drove home it was slow going but we made it fine. i’m thinking about taking a nap before dinner and before another full week! thanks for your prayers!
till next time...
Monday, February 7, 2011
week thirty one-base group
being a part of the ‘base group’ this week is very different now that we’ve moved and are also in lecture phase. we now get to spend tuesday and wednesday in the ICU ward at the hospital. after monday lectures thats exactly what happened. tuesday was my first full day in ICU. it went really well. as a student we have to do four different case studies, all to do with the four main problems in pregnancy (eclampsia, obstructed labour, puerperal sepsis and PPH (postpartum hemorrhage)) and being in the ICU is the perfect place to be able to learn more and get information for a case study. when we first got there we spent some time cleaning down bed frames and window ledges etc... and then took vitals on the women. the one side is all pre eclampsia/eclampsia and the other is post cesarian. i worked in the eclampsia side, one of the side effects of eclampsia is extremely high blood pressure. and i soon learnt how high it can go. some of these women were 180/120 and with the normal range being 110/60 - 140/90 this is extremely high and dangerous. i also got to interview one women for a case study gathering basic information about her and her pregnancy and labour experience. it was such a sad story.
she had woken up in the hospital the day before (monday) and had to ask ‘where am i and when did i get here?’ she was told she’d been here since last friday and that she had delivered her baby friday but it was born dead..... can you even imagine? first off i didn’t know that one can deliver being unconscious, second, to wake up and find out you’ve been in the hospital for four days and you’ve lost your baby..... she didn’t seem too upset but sometimes the mom’s don’t show too much emotion. we prayed for her and she was discharged that day. she is fortunate that her family brought her to the hospital when she did because she was still alive, but i can’t imagine how she must be feeling after such a traumatic labour experience.
there was another women brought in while we were there who was having difficulty breathing. it was painful to watch her take huge gasps of air. she was only seven months pregnant the but the hospital staff were administer drugs to her to help mature the baby’s lungs and then induce labour in hopes of saving both mom and baby. the next day when we got there she was still there, she had delivered a tiny little girl who seemed to be doing well. the mom however was still not doing any better with her gasping for air. since the baby was so little we wrapped it onto her chest (kangaroo care) to help ensure the baby’s temperature stayed stable. well she ended up falling asleep (mom) and after some time one of the girls on my team tried to wake her and she would not wake up. even the hospital staff had a difficult time waking her up. she did finally wake but was so distraught and confused saying the baby on her was not hers. we tried to re-account the details of whats been happening to her but she continued to deny the child being hers. we eventually had to remove the baby from her in hopes that later she would ‘come to’ more. it was agreed that she needed a higher level of care than the hospital could give her and she would be transferred later that day.
that same day there was a women with an extremely high pulse and bp. she was in labour and we had been monitoring her and it was time for her to deliver. i was preparing to do the delivery and was with her for quite some time when it was realized that she would not be able to deliver. the head was not advancing no matter how hard she was pushing, and also by now the baby’s heart rate had dropped to 100 (110-160 normal) after calling the doctor it was decided a vacuum extraction would be done. it was a bit of a challenging situation, the doctor decided to fix her IV line as there were clots in it and that took some time, including him banging the end of the line against her bed frame spraying blood all over the wall and floor where her water and food were being stored. i was quite upset, blood is not something you want going ‘everywhere’. he began the vacuum and it took four tries for the cup to stay suctioned to the baby’s head. he was finally pulled out and only needed rubbing on his back and baby began crying! beautiful little boy. the mom however now had a pulse of 180, nearly double what it normally should be. and she had severe tears that were causing her to continue to bleed. another frustrating thing then happened, this women is laying on the table, exposed and bleeding, needing immediate care and the doctor decides to answer his phone! there are some things culturally that have now become acceptable but this is not one of them. most all staff carry their phones on them and will answer them no matter what it is that they are doing in that moment. we’ve even seen them do it during a cesarian, yes an operation, they simply have another staff member hold the phone to their ear while they continue to cut open a women's belly. ridiculous eh? anyways, in the end she was sutured and bleeding did stop. it was the end of our work day and we had to leave but i talked to one of the doctors about her pulse and they said they would go and make sure she was taken care of. so i can only pray she received the care she needed. and i do believe she did, most of the doctors in ICU are really amazing. it was a good experience apart from the vacuum moment but i learnt a lot and the staff their are really good and knowledgable. and besides the one answering his cell, he did a very good job at suturing her up.
thursday my group traveled back to the base clinic that we would work at before the move. i spent the entire morning doing antenatal care. take bp, check fundal height(measure belly), feel for position of baby, check hear rate and all done. the staff would take my results and go from there. i probably got to check almost twenty women! it was a fun morning, its nice that we’re all more confident in our skills and so are the staff at the clinic. they nearly let me do everything on my own. and when they didn’t quite believe me they’d re-check, but they always got the same as what i had! one staff even told me ‘hongera’ which means ‘congratulations’ haha! it was a good day apart from one of the bus rides we took where i’m pretty sure the driver didn’t know he was driving a bus and mistaken it for a race car. at one point he slammed on the breaks and because i was sitting in the middle seat in the very back i had nothing but isle to stop me and i flew forward two rows. if it weren’t for Celia grabbing my arm i would have kept going.... a little scary but i was fine!
friday i got the opportunity to go to labour ward because one of the girls wasn’t going. it was a really good day, started off a little rough with a breech baby born with a low apgar who still was not entirely stable when we left. but the rest of the day was great. i was asked to monitor one women who was just brought in from ANC and was told she was 7cm and this was her third child.... i thought okay, sure i’ll check her vitals and such. i went to check her bp but she was having a contraction so i thought i’d wait, then i noticed she was pushing and i thought, 7cm? not a good time to push she’ll tear or wear herself out. so i tried telling her to breath and not push but she was in no way acknowledging my existence. so i thought, i should check her then and pulled away the khonga she was wearing and there was the bulging membranes with the head directly behind out to its nose already! (i should know not to trust the 7cm we’re told by now but i did not this time!) i fumbled with gloves and someone broke the membranes and i got my hands ready just in time to deliver the body and slip the cord around him. a beautiful baby boy, let out a strong cry right away! i let him lay on his mama’s tummy for a while until she made it clear she wasn’t a fan of this anymore! haha! and clamped and cut the cord and handed him off to Naomi to weigh and do a vital check. after that everything continued to happen very quick and third stage was done before i knew it. she was cleaned and sitting on a postnatal bed with baby beside her only half an hour after she originally came into the labour ward! the quickest and cleanest delivery i think i’ve ever done! it was good because it was early on in the morning so i was able to monitor both of them and help out Naomi when she did a delivery later on that morning. it was a great way to end the week!
the weekend also went well, sleeping in and going to Shoppers Plaza to develop some pics, buy a few snacks for the week and hang out at the bookstore, kinda makes you feel like your at home! sunday four of us tried out a new church. it was really good! they meet at the cinema’s and it was english speaking. pastored by an American who has lived here for the past ten years. we met his family and a few others and everyone seemed really kind. our entire team is going next week! hopefully they’ll have enough seats! the rest of the day i worked on homework and studied for the monday test. and just relaxed. oh also got a bit of a haircut. one of my staff can cut hair so it was nice to be able to get a trim. but yes i suppose thats about it.... i’m in labour ward next week, only five more hospital weeks left and six in Tanzania.... pretty crazy to think i’m halfway (or just over) outreach.....
till next time....
she had woken up in the hospital the day before (monday) and had to ask ‘where am i and when did i get here?’ she was told she’d been here since last friday and that she had delivered her baby friday but it was born dead..... can you even imagine? first off i didn’t know that one can deliver being unconscious, second, to wake up and find out you’ve been in the hospital for four days and you’ve lost your baby..... she didn’t seem too upset but sometimes the mom’s don’t show too much emotion. we prayed for her and she was discharged that day. she is fortunate that her family brought her to the hospital when she did because she was still alive, but i can’t imagine how she must be feeling after such a traumatic labour experience.
there was another women brought in while we were there who was having difficulty breathing. it was painful to watch her take huge gasps of air. she was only seven months pregnant the but the hospital staff were administer drugs to her to help mature the baby’s lungs and then induce labour in hopes of saving both mom and baby. the next day when we got there she was still there, she had delivered a tiny little girl who seemed to be doing well. the mom however was still not doing any better with her gasping for air. since the baby was so little we wrapped it onto her chest (kangaroo care) to help ensure the baby’s temperature stayed stable. well she ended up falling asleep (mom) and after some time one of the girls on my team tried to wake her and she would not wake up. even the hospital staff had a difficult time waking her up. she did finally wake but was so distraught and confused saying the baby on her was not hers. we tried to re-account the details of whats been happening to her but she continued to deny the child being hers. we eventually had to remove the baby from her in hopes that later she would ‘come to’ more. it was agreed that she needed a higher level of care than the hospital could give her and she would be transferred later that day.
that same day there was a women with an extremely high pulse and bp. she was in labour and we had been monitoring her and it was time for her to deliver. i was preparing to do the delivery and was with her for quite some time when it was realized that she would not be able to deliver. the head was not advancing no matter how hard she was pushing, and also by now the baby’s heart rate had dropped to 100 (110-160 normal) after calling the doctor it was decided a vacuum extraction would be done. it was a bit of a challenging situation, the doctor decided to fix her IV line as there were clots in it and that took some time, including him banging the end of the line against her bed frame spraying blood all over the wall and floor where her water and food were being stored. i was quite upset, blood is not something you want going ‘everywhere’. he began the vacuum and it took four tries for the cup to stay suctioned to the baby’s head. he was finally pulled out and only needed rubbing on his back and baby began crying! beautiful little boy. the mom however now had a pulse of 180, nearly double what it normally should be. and she had severe tears that were causing her to continue to bleed. another frustrating thing then happened, this women is laying on the table, exposed and bleeding, needing immediate care and the doctor decides to answer his phone! there are some things culturally that have now become acceptable but this is not one of them. most all staff carry their phones on them and will answer them no matter what it is that they are doing in that moment. we’ve even seen them do it during a cesarian, yes an operation, they simply have another staff member hold the phone to their ear while they continue to cut open a women's belly. ridiculous eh? anyways, in the end she was sutured and bleeding did stop. it was the end of our work day and we had to leave but i talked to one of the doctors about her pulse and they said they would go and make sure she was taken care of. so i can only pray she received the care she needed. and i do believe she did, most of the doctors in ICU are really amazing. it was a good experience apart from the vacuum moment but i learnt a lot and the staff their are really good and knowledgable. and besides the one answering his cell, he did a very good job at suturing her up.
thursday my group traveled back to the base clinic that we would work at before the move. i spent the entire morning doing antenatal care. take bp, check fundal height(measure belly), feel for position of baby, check hear rate and all done. the staff would take my results and go from there. i probably got to check almost twenty women! it was a fun morning, its nice that we’re all more confident in our skills and so are the staff at the clinic. they nearly let me do everything on my own. and when they didn’t quite believe me they’d re-check, but they always got the same as what i had! one staff even told me ‘hongera’ which means ‘congratulations’ haha! it was a good day apart from one of the bus rides we took where i’m pretty sure the driver didn’t know he was driving a bus and mistaken it for a race car. at one point he slammed on the breaks and because i was sitting in the middle seat in the very back i had nothing but isle to stop me and i flew forward two rows. if it weren’t for Celia grabbing my arm i would have kept going.... a little scary but i was fine!
friday i got the opportunity to go to labour ward because one of the girls wasn’t going. it was a really good day, started off a little rough with a breech baby born with a low apgar who still was not entirely stable when we left. but the rest of the day was great. i was asked to monitor one women who was just brought in from ANC and was told she was 7cm and this was her third child.... i thought okay, sure i’ll check her vitals and such. i went to check her bp but she was having a contraction so i thought i’d wait, then i noticed she was pushing and i thought, 7cm? not a good time to push she’ll tear or wear herself out. so i tried telling her to breath and not push but she was in no way acknowledging my existence. so i thought, i should check her then and pulled away the khonga she was wearing and there was the bulging membranes with the head directly behind out to its nose already! (i should know not to trust the 7cm we’re told by now but i did not this time!) i fumbled with gloves and someone broke the membranes and i got my hands ready just in time to deliver the body and slip the cord around him. a beautiful baby boy, let out a strong cry right away! i let him lay on his mama’s tummy for a while until she made it clear she wasn’t a fan of this anymore! haha! and clamped and cut the cord and handed him off to Naomi to weigh and do a vital check. after that everything continued to happen very quick and third stage was done before i knew it. she was cleaned and sitting on a postnatal bed with baby beside her only half an hour after she originally came into the labour ward! the quickest and cleanest delivery i think i’ve ever done! it was good because it was early on in the morning so i was able to monitor both of them and help out Naomi when she did a delivery later on that morning. it was a great way to end the week!
the weekend also went well, sleeping in and going to Shoppers Plaza to develop some pics, buy a few snacks for the week and hang out at the bookstore, kinda makes you feel like your at home! sunday four of us tried out a new church. it was really good! they meet at the cinema’s and it was english speaking. pastored by an American who has lived here for the past ten years. we met his family and a few others and everyone seemed really kind. our entire team is going next week! hopefully they’ll have enough seats! the rest of the day i worked on homework and studied for the monday test. and just relaxed. oh also got a bit of a haircut. one of my staff can cut hair so it was nice to be able to get a trim. but yes i suppose thats about it.... i’m in labour ward next week, only five more hospital weeks left and six in Tanzania.... pretty crazy to think i’m halfway (or just over) outreach.....
till next time....
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
week thirty- ANC
lectures as usual on monday and then thursday night as well. but thursday we had clinical practice in blood taking and IV’s, and who is it we practice on? well each other of course! i was pretty impressed that i allowed others to stab me with needles but it actually went fairly well, a few bruises and a bit of swolleness but all was well. i think taking blood is my favorite! getting to draw back and see the blood in the syringe. such a moment of proudness!
i was in anc this week. it was challenging and at times frustrating but was able to spot a few fevers and pre-eclampsia (a disease that entails extremely high bp, and can lead to fits, extremely dangerous for mom and baby). but caught early enough both mom and baby have a higher rate of living. one day i took several women to ultrasound. the ultrasound tech’s are not a fan of it when we come with many women so i went ahead of time to warn them i was bringing three, possibly four women with me. they said, ‘only three’ but who am i to say no to a women in need of ultrasound? i did end up only needing to bring three. but one of whom was terribly weak. Celia (one of the other students) came with me and had to help her onto the examining table and the women nearly collapsed. her HB levels were so low (blood) and she had no energy. she needed fluids but there were no IV lines. also we had a women who needed an indwelling catheter and the nurse says ‘she needs a catheter’ me ‘okay do we have any?’ nurse ‘no we don’t have’...... not very helpful when women are in need of these simple things. who knew going to the toilet during labour was so important for the whole process to continue safely. after delivery the women's uterus needs to contract to a certain size. if there her bladder is full then it can not contract properly and the women will continue to bleed. this particular women was getting ready to go home when i noticed her getting into the cab having to be escorted by family because she appeared in so much pain she could not walk. to top it off she was deaf. we grabbed a staff who communicated with the family that she can not go home in this state and they assisted her back into the hospital. it was her who needed an indwelling catheter.... we did manage to find a canula (for IV) for her so we could begin to put fluids into her. that was the story this past week, ‘this women needs this but there are no supplies’ when this happens either the women's’ family goes to buy them and if that is not possible the women is left without the care she needs. our team bought several canula’s and catheters for the hospital this week and are trying to figure out a way to be able to provide more supplies for the hospital. it is government ran but its not the ‘highest level of care’ hospital and things are not provided well.
friday i was able to go with Celia to a different hospital were the mom’s we can not treat get transferred to. apparently the mom i delivered a week ago with the baby who was not doing well but was better the next day, she again was not doing so well and her mom brought her to this hospital. i was able to find the mom after much searching and we also found four other moms we had in some way or another helped at the hospital where we work. we were told that their babies were kept on the floor below in a separate ward. we entered the hallway and asked permission to find these babies. the staff there were quite confused why we were there. they kept asking ‘what is it your dealing with?’ we had to explain that we had delivered/helped these babies/women and we only wanted to check up on them. they thought it was neat that we would come and do that and were granted permission to search the rooms for the particular babies. there were six rooms, four of which were filled with babies, some sick and some okay. it was neat but also sad to see the sick ones fighting for life and then to see two with charts labeled ‘new orphans’ i think that got to me the most. to see this little girl squirming and knowing that there was no one who would come to hold her. we located four out of the five we were looking for. the only we could not find was the one i had delivered. i was disappointed but had searched the rooms twice. (the other two rooms were the primi rooms. with such little ones unlike anything you’ve seen. some could have fit in my hand) i said goodbye to my mom and told her i couldn’t find her daughter, she explained where she was but it was past visiting hours and we weren’t allowed back in. i have her phone number and she mine, so i will be staying in touch to see what is happening.
this weekend has been relaxing, which is really nice. next week i’m in icu. i’m a little nervous, not sure what i’ll see but i like being able to learn more about cases that are more serious.
till next time...
i was in anc this week. it was challenging and at times frustrating but was able to spot a few fevers and pre-eclampsia (a disease that entails extremely high bp, and can lead to fits, extremely dangerous for mom and baby). but caught early enough both mom and baby have a higher rate of living. one day i took several women to ultrasound. the ultrasound tech’s are not a fan of it when we come with many women so i went ahead of time to warn them i was bringing three, possibly four women with me. they said, ‘only three’ but who am i to say no to a women in need of ultrasound? i did end up only needing to bring three. but one of whom was terribly weak. Celia (one of the other students) came with me and had to help her onto the examining table and the women nearly collapsed. her HB levels were so low (blood) and she had no energy. she needed fluids but there were no IV lines. also we had a women who needed an indwelling catheter and the nurse says ‘she needs a catheter’ me ‘okay do we have any?’ nurse ‘no we don’t have’...... not very helpful when women are in need of these simple things. who knew going to the toilet during labour was so important for the whole process to continue safely. after delivery the women's uterus needs to contract to a certain size. if there her bladder is full then it can not contract properly and the women will continue to bleed. this particular women was getting ready to go home when i noticed her getting into the cab having to be escorted by family because she appeared in so much pain she could not walk. to top it off she was deaf. we grabbed a staff who communicated with the family that she can not go home in this state and they assisted her back into the hospital. it was her who needed an indwelling catheter.... we did manage to find a canula (for IV) for her so we could begin to put fluids into her. that was the story this past week, ‘this women needs this but there are no supplies’ when this happens either the women's’ family goes to buy them and if that is not possible the women is left without the care she needs. our team bought several canula’s and catheters for the hospital this week and are trying to figure out a way to be able to provide more supplies for the hospital. it is government ran but its not the ‘highest level of care’ hospital and things are not provided well.
friday i was able to go with Celia to a different hospital were the mom’s we can not treat get transferred to. apparently the mom i delivered a week ago with the baby who was not doing well but was better the next day, she again was not doing so well and her mom brought her to this hospital. i was able to find the mom after much searching and we also found four other moms we had in some way or another helped at the hospital where we work. we were told that their babies were kept on the floor below in a separate ward. we entered the hallway and asked permission to find these babies. the staff there were quite confused why we were there. they kept asking ‘what is it your dealing with?’ we had to explain that we had delivered/helped these babies/women and we only wanted to check up on them. they thought it was neat that we would come and do that and were granted permission to search the rooms for the particular babies. there were six rooms, four of which were filled with babies, some sick and some okay. it was neat but also sad to see the sick ones fighting for life and then to see two with charts labeled ‘new orphans’ i think that got to me the most. to see this little girl squirming and knowing that there was no one who would come to hold her. we located four out of the five we were looking for. the only we could not find was the one i had delivered. i was disappointed but had searched the rooms twice. (the other two rooms were the primi rooms. with such little ones unlike anything you’ve seen. some could have fit in my hand) i said goodbye to my mom and told her i couldn’t find her daughter, she explained where she was but it was past visiting hours and we weren’t allowed back in. i have her phone number and she mine, so i will be staying in touch to see what is happening.
this weekend has been relaxing, which is really nice. next week i’m in icu. i’m a little nervous, not sure what i’ll see but i like being able to learn more about cases that are more serious.
till next time...
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