My last doula adventure was a crazy one. I have seen a lot since I last updated you all.
1. I have seen two new doulas (that I have had the privilege of training) spread their wings and do very well.
2. I have seen a baby born right on the dirty hospital floor. Both mom and baby were fine.
3. I have seen a woman punched repeatedly while her baby was crowning.
4. I have seen God answer my prayers over and over again when a mom is having a very hard time or when a baby is not breathing.
5. I have seen an HIV positive mom shunned and shamed.
6. I have seen serious hemorrhages and babies that took a long time to breathe.
7. I've seen the midwives be very kind and show great skill in order to save a mom and baby.
8. I've seen the midwives share their own things and go the extra mile to be kind to a patient.
9. I've seen a movie on maternal death in childbirth put on for the laboring women to watch.
10. I've seen the squatting position spare many women from c sections and vacuum extractions.
Showing posts with label cleanliness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cleanliness. Show all posts
Friday, 13 September 2013
Saturday, 1 June 2013
Fishing in the Toilet and Interrogations.
Yesterday I witnessed a one hour interrogation of laboring and post partum women. The nurse wanted to know which of them had tried to flush a pad down the toilet. It ended in a very weak mother, who had delivered only an hour earlier, being forced to fish the pad out of the toilet.
(These women have rarely seen flush toilets or used disposable pads...so it is a hard thing to get used too)
I see things in the hospital here that are very hard to see. Interesting though, the women are NOT complaining. They are thankful. At the end of an awful delivery (one that would surely bring a lawsuit in the USA) she is saying..."I'm so glad I was here! Who knows what would have happened if I had been in my hut alone." She isn't saying this because she has been brainwashed by the medical community. She has seen firsthand friends and relatives who died in childbirth.
It costs them one month's wages to spend the night on the floor in the hospital filled with rats and cockroaches. They stand barefoot in a shower (if there is water) where 30 other ladies stood and bled...in a country where HIV is rampant.
The hospital situation here can be gross and sometimes even abusive. Oh, and did I mention that you have to bring your own toilet paper? There is often no running water for days at a time...I would like to see it changed. I am glad though that less women and babies are dying here in the hospital than they are in the jungles....although last weekend 3 newborns died in the hospital in a 24 hour period....so I wonder about that too sometimes.
The funny thing is that I believe the hospital staff is really trying hard to do a good job. (Except for the Nurse Interrogator)
I personally have some horrible stories about American hospitals....but I never had a nurse make me fish things out of a community toilet.
(These women have rarely seen flush toilets or used disposable pads...so it is a hard thing to get used too)
I see things in the hospital here that are very hard to see. Interesting though, the women are NOT complaining. They are thankful. At the end of an awful delivery (one that would surely bring a lawsuit in the USA) she is saying..."I'm so glad I was here! Who knows what would have happened if I had been in my hut alone." She isn't saying this because she has been brainwashed by the medical community. She has seen firsthand friends and relatives who died in childbirth.
It costs them one month's wages to spend the night on the floor in the hospital filled with rats and cockroaches. They stand barefoot in a shower (if there is water) where 30 other ladies stood and bled...in a country where HIV is rampant.
The hospital situation here can be gross and sometimes even abusive. Oh, and did I mention that you have to bring your own toilet paper? There is often no running water for days at a time...I would like to see it changed. I am glad though that less women and babies are dying here in the hospital than they are in the jungles....although last weekend 3 newborns died in the hospital in a 24 hour period....so I wonder about that too sometimes.
The funny thing is that I believe the hospital staff is really trying hard to do a good job. (Except for the Nurse Interrogator)
I personally have some horrible stories about American hospitals....but I never had a nurse make me fish things out of a community toilet.
Thursday, 23 May 2013
Dangerous Doula-ing Strikes Again
(Warning, don't read this while eating)
The Facilities...
As a doula here, I get to haul water, a lot. I also get to try not to mix up the babies. Not something you learn at a doula training.
A lot of women here hemorrage, even though they are all hooked up to pitocin as soon as the baby arrives. Out of the last twenty births I have seen, six hemmoraged...I'm not sure how that compares to other places.
Many of the women are very weak after giving birth, and within an hour they are usually asked to get up, pack up, and bathe. Bathing includes filling a five gallon bucket with cold water and carrying it 15 feet to the shower stall. That is where I come in, the water bucket carrier.
Once to the shower, the woman then squats and washes. This one shower is rarely cleaned and women file through there all day and all night. As you can imagine, it is GROSS. (Think blood clots)
There is also only one toilet, which is rarely cleaned. But I will spare you the description on that one.
Did I Give Her the Right One?
During one post partum hemorrage, the midwife was getting pretty worried and asked me to grab the woman's baby so that she could nurse it and cause the uterus to contract. I walked to the little table where three babies were wrapped like little burritos side by side. Hmmm....no identification....how was I supposed to know which baby was hers? I ran back to the midwife and explained my dilemma. She replied, "the big one is hers." So, this being an emergency situation...I grabbed the biggest looking burrito baby there and brought it back to the woman.
She stopped bleeding and fell in love with her baby....at least I hope it was hers...she seemed to think it was.
The Facilities...
As a doula here, I get to haul water, a lot. I also get to try not to mix up the babies. Not something you learn at a doula training.
A lot of women here hemorrage, even though they are all hooked up to pitocin as soon as the baby arrives. Out of the last twenty births I have seen, six hemmoraged...I'm not sure how that compares to other places.
Many of the women are very weak after giving birth, and within an hour they are usually asked to get up, pack up, and bathe. Bathing includes filling a five gallon bucket with cold water and carrying it 15 feet to the shower stall. That is where I come in, the water bucket carrier.
Once to the shower, the woman then squats and washes. This one shower is rarely cleaned and women file through there all day and all night. As you can imagine, it is GROSS. (Think blood clots)
There is also only one toilet, which is rarely cleaned. But I will spare you the description on that one.
Did I Give Her the Right One?
During one post partum hemorrage, the midwife was getting pretty worried and asked me to grab the woman's baby so that she could nurse it and cause the uterus to contract. I walked to the little table where three babies were wrapped like little burritos side by side. Hmmm....no identification....how was I supposed to know which baby was hers? I ran back to the midwife and explained my dilemma. She replied, "the big one is hers." So, this being an emergency situation...I grabbed the biggest looking burrito baby there and brought it back to the woman.
She stopped bleeding and fell in love with her baby....at least I hope it was hers...she seemed to think it was.
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