On Wednesday, Avneet and I (Alana) were able to assist with our first Zambian delivery, and boy was it fast! It was amazing to see how strong the mothers are, continuing to deliver through the pain and sweat. The team here consists of nurses, midwives, students, and in more emergent situations a physician. One of the skills we were able to bring to be labour room was comforting the mother during the birthing process. I held the mothers hand, rubbed her back, instructed her through some deep breathing, and encouraged her throughout. One of the midwives asked us to insert a catheter, so we got all of our supplies ready, but before we knew it the baby was on her way out! Thank goodness for having our safety goggles on! After a quick clean of the baby, we showed the mama. I said "girl" to her, and she looked at me and said "boy?" And I said "no, girl, look!" and with the biggest smile she exclaimed "girl!". It was a very sweet moment, knowing the mother couldn't speak much English and my Lozi is progressing very slowly, but we could understand each other in that moment.
After being in labour room 1 for a little while, the room felt very stuffy, so I (Avneet) stepped out to the hallway to take a breather. I glanced over to labour room 2 and was shocked to see another baby coming head out! I didn't even see this mother get admitted to the maternity ward that morning and next thing you know a beautiful baby boy was born. I was able to complete an assessment of the newborn, and guide the midwifery student through it. Afterwards I assessed the mother and babe for an hour and then walked them over to the postnatal floor for the next 5 hours.
While caring for these mothers and babes, we had to take many things into consideration. Some mothers were coming from quite far away, and some may have walked for hours or even days to deliver their babies in the hospital. We also cared for mothers who are affected with HIV, malaria, and moms who have previously lost their babies. We saw first hand that some mothers did not have necessities such as baby blankets or hats for their newborns, and we spoke to the nurses about this and were told how common it is. The next day we decided to bring baby supplies (blankets, hats, clothes) for new mothers in need, feeding cups and Penguin suctions for the staff to help care for the newborns. The head nurse was thrilled to receive these supplies and put the suctions in the delivery rooms right away! We hope to continue to assess and discuss the needs of the labour and delivery/post-delivery ward and share more knowledge as we develop our cultural competencies and experience more.
Bye for now!
- Avneet & Alana
No comments:
Post a Comment