A new life :)

On our drive up the mountain to the clinic in Alto Cabiliero we happened to see Diyana, the nurse at our clinic sitting outside a restaurant in civilian clothes. We thought this was strange, but when we got to the clinic it was immediately put out of our minds as we saw the multitude of people waiting there for treatment. An even more pressing issue was the fact that there was a young woman in labor, who was already dilated 5 cm. An ambulance was supposed to arrive to take her to the hospital but as we sat with her and her contractions came quicker and quicker we realized that the baby was coming much quicker than anticipated. Everyone in our group crowded into the tiny, stifling hot exam room along with the doctor, the mother, the grandmother, and several techs. The doctor was upset because the clinic did not have the capacity to deliver a high risk pregnancy, but he was very calm and patient with all of the students. As the mother moaned with each contraction and the doctor began to cut open her perineum and vagina, I felt like I was going through each cut and pain with her. When the baby's head began to come out I had my hands clasped together and I think that I was more stressed out from just watching than anyone who was actually helping with the procedure. When the mother gave her final push and the baby slid out with a burst of fluids and myconium I breathed a sigh of relief. When I saw the baby however I was shocked. She was a blueish gray color and did not make a sound. The doctor suctioned the fluid out of her mouth, and still she didn't cry. The tech was bringing in the ambu-bag when she finally let out a short wail. I think you could actually feel the tension being lifted when she cried out. As the tech took her to be cleaned off I realized that I had tears in my eyes. I'm not sure if it was just a build up of stress that was suddenly lifted or if it was the immense joy of seeing a new life being brought into the world. When we finally brought the baby into the room where her mother was, she didn't really want to take her it seemed. We told her the baby needed to be fed though and Liz and I helped the baby attach itself to the breast. After she was fed she looked up at her mother as if she was trying to imprint her face in her memory. I told the mother that her baby was looking at her and she looked down at her child, and maybe I was just already Feeling sentimental from the whole experience, but it seemed like you could feel the love between them in their gaze. It was a beautiful experience.
As beautiful as it was though I think I can rule out OB as my future specialty. And what a terrible day not to have a nurse on duty! All of the doctor's time was taken up with these two patients and when we left, he still had a clinic full of people waiting to be seen. I felt bad for them, but they didn't seem to mind. In fact, when we brouht the baby out to be measured and weighed most of them smiled and seemed happy for the child and her mother. All in all it was a fantastic experience and I am very happy that we were blessed with the opportunity to see a new life coming into the world.