Mary in Malawi

21/6 Maternal ward

Today I will write in English again, got complaints from some non-swedish speaking friends... ;)

Anyway, troday I assisted in the maternal ward, I learned how to do post natal examinations and I assisted during deliveries in the labour ward. I saw my first delivery... It was an experince out of the ordinary. It is for sure a different world here, the baby was delivered by a third year nursing student... But he did a great job, I was extremely impressed. The midwife asked me if I know how to deliver, in that case I ”...could go start on that woman over there” hehe. I said that I don't have a clue about this thing, so the midwife lauhged at me and said that she would teach me everything =) So when I come home, I should be a fully qualified midwife! Hihi! =) I have learned how to feel and count the contractions and how to feel the dilation of the cervix, and how to know when to start the delivery... =)

I also had some negative experiences today. We had a young girl coming in for ”criminal abortion”. She had went to a traditional doctor (a kind of witch doctor) to get an abortion. Her uterus got badly wounded and she was severely septic. They kept her in the post natal ward, together with all the new mothers... She was so sick. So couldn't stand up, she almost fainted every time she tried. I asked the midwife in charge if we should do something, but she just said ”Ah, she had a criminal abortion..”. The mentality was like... she had her self to blame for what happend. People didn't really care. Her mother was hugging her and tried to comfort her... It was hard to see. We also had another woman, he wanted an abortion done at the hospital. She was denied, and she cried and cried. She said that her husband would punish her badly and maybe kill her if he knew she was pregnant again. And yet her husband hed denied to use any prevention.. But it is not allowed to have abortions here, so she didn't get any help. She will now go to a traditional doctor... That is just so sad. That something that is not a very big deal at home is such a sin here...

Also, I made CPR (HLR) on a premature baby... It was me and some nursing students. The students knew what to do, and I helped them.. At home, there is no way that students would do something llike this.. But this is the way it is here. I don't know what happend to the baby, we did CPR for maybe 30 minutes, and then he kind of started breathing, or more gasping for air every 20'th second. Then a midwife came and took over for me, and I had to go. I hope the baby is still there tomorrow.

Also, Link had a hard day today.. she witnessed the death of a three year old girl.. She told me that when the baby died, the mother tied her to her back and carried her home....

It is for sure a different world...