One Challenge at a Time

So, today was day one in the hospital. Nothing could have prepared me for it. Nothing at all.

Our shift was from 8-2 and I was on the labour and delivery ward. These rooms are nothing like the rooms in Canada. There is a labouring room with about 5 beds and some mats on the floor, and a birthing room with 4 beds, no curtains inbetween. At about 8:02am I followed my assigned nurse into the birthing room only to find a midwife placing a babe on the scale. I noticed right away that the babe was not alive. My heart broke right then and there. Tears started to come, and my classmate and I slowly walked out of the room to regroup. The nurse followed us and said in an upbeat and happy way, "you're nurses! you need to be strong!" She encounters this situation all the time, I have never encountered it. Later the babe was placed in a box on the floor and left there for a good hour or two. The nurses here come to expect this situation, and carry on like it's no big deal. Well, I'm sure they think it's a big deal, but if they got caught up in every situation like this, they'd always be upset.

The day went on and I watched a c-section and thank God this baby survived and so did the mother. I then saw another birth and this babe and mother also both survived. In Canada there is much more enthusiasm when a child is born - laughter, happiness, emotions, etc. Here in Ghana that is not the case. The women are very silent, the husbands are not around, women are not given any pain medication and are told to be strong and brave. And when they are not...oh do they get heck from the midwives who yell at them. It's so hard to watch. This would never fly where we come from. And I'd never imagine it here in Ghana because everyone is so kind, but...that's not the case in L+D apparently. I'm not sure if all the midwives are like that, but the 2 I saw today were not very kind.

There is also a lack in communication between the hospital staff and the patients. The patients seemed confused at times, and were not informed of everything that was going on. They were given pieces of information, but it wasn't like how it is in Canada. And when it comes to the women whose child has died in the womb (there was one woman labouring today whose child had already passed), the mother is not told until after delivery. I asked the nurse why this is and she said it is because they are afraid that if the woman is notified before delivery, their emotions and stress and worry might contribute to further maternal complications. If the woman asks though, they will be told.

The doctors were super good to us though! They called us 'friends' - at one point the surgeon said to me "hey friend, what are you up to over there?" This would also never happen in Canada, haha.

Later on in the day there was another c-section that I did not watch, but I was looking for something to do so I wandered into the birthing room. Here I found a doctor and midwife trying to revive the little one. Once again, my heart broke. I can't get over how common death is here! Both of these women whose babies died had come in from the villages and came too late. The hospital staff tried, and tried, and tried with the few resources that they have, to get this little babe breathing again but he eventually passed away. These deaths would have been prevented in Canada.

I hate the feeling of helplessness. No code was called, no one rushed in to help, there was no major equipment brought in...those things don't exist here.

Tomorrow I'm spending the day in an orphanage and I'm hoping for a brighter day than today. Even though I've written about all the negative things today, I really did cherish the smiles that came from the moms whose babies survived, but unfortunately, these smiles were few and far between.

So, I continue, taking it one challenge at a time. Welcome to Africa.