When I went to the maternity last week I saw a lady in labour-pain. She was sitting with her mother on the veranda.
In Uganda it is normal that a mother or sister takes care of the mother in labour. Most of the time the husband is waiting outside or comes later when the baby is born. The lady in labour-pain looked as if she was struggling badly, so I asked the staff what was going on with her. They told me she was waiting for an ambulance to take her to Soroti as her pelvis is too small. In the meantime her husband was looking for money to pay the transport. This means that the mother has to wait till the husband comes back with some money. To see this, was for me a stressful and painful process as it can take a long time before the husband comes back. Sometimes when there is no money they have to sell a chicken or a goat first. I asked the staff if there was anything we could do for this mother as she was really in pain. Perhaps we could give her a painkiller and I could try to breath with here (we call it puffing). This is a special breathing technique when you are in labour-pain. If you control the breathing you can relax more and the pain will be less. However the people here aren’t used to this method and find it also a bit strange to see a nurse breathing together with a patient. Despite this I gave the lady 2 paracetamol and started breathing with her. And the lady picked it up quickly and started breathing with me. After ½ hour the membranes broke and 10 minutes later the baby was born. It was a baby girl and everything went well, the staff called it a miracle, "this is a miracle"! So, in this case the breathing and the paracetamol were very helpful. When the husband came back with the money he smiled with extra pride, not only can he go home with his newborn, he can also save the money for transport. The government advises people to deliver in a hospital or health center as it’s risky to deliver at home. Here, from time to time we see people coming from the villages who usually have a problem with the delivery. Often unfortunately it’s too late which means we have a high percentage of mothers who die before or after giving birth. And even me I call it every time a miracle! A new born human being!
In Uganda it is normal that a mother or sister takes care of the mother in labour. Most of the time the husband is waiting outside or comes later when the baby is born. The lady in labour-pain looked as if she was struggling badly, so I asked the staff what was going on with her. They told me she was waiting for an ambulance to take her to Soroti as her pelvis is too small. In the meantime her husband was looking for money to pay the transport. This means that the mother has to wait till the husband comes back with some money. To see this, was for me a stressful and painful process as it can take a long time before the husband comes back. Sometimes when there is no money they have to sell a chicken or a goat first. I asked the staff if there was anything we could do for this mother as she was really in pain. Perhaps we could give her a painkiller and I could try to breath with here (we call it puffing). This is a special breathing technique when you are in labour-pain. If you control the breathing you can relax more and the pain will be less. However the people here aren’t used to this method and find it also a bit strange to see a nurse breathing together with a patient. Despite this I gave the lady 2 paracetamol and started breathing with her. And the lady picked it up quickly and started breathing with me. After ½ hour the membranes broke and 10 minutes later the baby was born. It was a baby girl and everything went well, the staff called it a miracle, "this is a miracle"! So, in this case the breathing and the paracetamol were very helpful. When the husband came back with the money he smiled with extra pride, not only can he go home with his newborn, he can also save the money for transport. The government advises people to deliver in a hospital or health center as it’s risky to deliver at home. Here, from time to time we see people coming from the villages who usually have a problem with the delivery. Often unfortunately it’s too late which means we have a high percentage of mothers who die before or after giving birth. And even me I call it every time a miracle! A new born human being!