I saw my first live birth today. It seems a little backwards since in America I was a nurse and here in Africa I’m a teacher but as it is I never had an opportunity to see one during school or since then; until today.
We are on holiday now since the end of July and I decided I wanted to spend time in my community to find ways I can get more involved. Today was my day to spend at the health center. The heath center in my village offers a lot of great services with offices dedicated to malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, family planning, prenatal care, a laboratory for HIV and malaria testing, as well as inpatient beds and a maternity ward. My goal is to spend time in each area to see what exactly it is that they do. As I was on my tour in the morning there were quite a few laboring women waiting and it somehow came about that I would be able to watch a delivery. One of the mothers was pretty well dilated but it was her first child so things weren’t moving too quickly. I had my heart set on seeing the birth so I stuck around. Finally at about 3:30 when things just weren’t progressing enough they made the decision to transfer her to the hospital in Rwamagana. Thankful in the other delivery room there was another mother who was going to have her 5th child who was also nearing delivery so I was a little more hopefully. As the ambulance was about to leave with the first mother, the fetal heart rate began to slow and they worried about complications so she also was transferred to Rwamagana. At that point it was getting late and I was tired from standing around all day so I decided to go home. As I was literally walking out the door another mother was brought into the delivery room. I decided to stay at least until after her exam to see how she was progressing. I asked one of the nurses if she thought it would be soon in which she responded that yes it wouldn’t be long. About 5 minutes later the baby was born.
Now, like I said, I’ve never seen a delivery in the States, nor (obviously) have I had a child but I can assume with some certainty it’s nothing like what I saw today. As a pregnant woman in the village, when labor begins you find a way to get yourself to the health center which means either walking or climbing on the back of a bicycle or a moto if you’re lucky. I was told that most women do come to the health center these days to deliver but as I was waiting a woman who had just given birth in the morning at home came in with her newborn so they both could be checked, so it does still happen. Formally trained midwives don’t do home births though, so she probably had help from her mother or a friend who may have some experience.
After arriving, a woman is examined to see what stage of labor she is in. If she isn’t too far along yet she is put into a small room with 3 beds where all the mothers continue their labor until they are ready to deliver. Today there were 2 women to each bed. They continue to be examined regularly and when they have progressed enough they move into the delivery room. Many hospitals these days pour millions into gorgeous maternity suites decked out with flat screen TV’s, whirlpool tubs, big comfy beds, etc and rightly so, those mothers deserve it. Needless to say though, that’s not what it’s like here. There is a old metal examination table about 4 feet off the ground that requires a step stool to climb into, a cabinet with a few supplies, and a small table with a baby scale, no monitors, no oxygen, not even a working sink. The only thing that is used to monitor the baby is a fetoscope which has a bell shape and is used by pressing the wide end down firmly on the mother’s abdomen and then placing your ear on the other end to listen for the heart beat.
Even though they lack so many resources I was really impressed by the entire process. When I was waiting and waiting during the day I was a little worried about whether or not I really wanted to watch the birth. I was afraid I may be traumatized into never wanting to have children but everyone made it look so easy. The nurses who delivered the baby (there are no doctors at the health center) were calm and collected the entire time and did their jobs very well and professionally. The mother though, she was incredible. I was in complete awe of her, she never had a drop of pain medicine, not even an IV and she was so strong the entire time doing everything she was told. About 15 minutes after the delivery was over she got up, walked to the room next door where she will stay with her baby for the next 3 days. The nurse brought her baby to her and that was it, it was all over. After what I saw today, I don’t think I could argue that anyone has more strength than an African woman.
I felt all those cliché things about the miracle of birth but to see someone take their first breath of life truly is astonishing. The sweet baby boy was perfect and I feel so privileged to have witnessed the first moments of his life.
