Of LABOUR

So picture this, am this very young and impressionable fourth year medical student, fresh faced and eager to learn, full of zeal and zest for life, notepad in my slightly over sized lab coat, stethoscope hanging around my neck and with these big curious eyes taking in everything going on around me. So Innocent......So good were those days....

So there I was, on one of those random days, hanging around the hospital with nothing to do,and since I was doing my Obstetrics rotation I decided to just take a stroll to labour ward. I had heard stories, a lot of stories but I was in one of those carefree moods, nothing could faze me. Immediately I got in, there was some flurry of activity towards some small room at the back of the ward and everyone seemed to be headed there. I of course quickly joined in the procession and in my tiny little self I caught myself thinking that wow am gonna catch some action, what I saw really stopped me dead in my tracks, action , I did get, lots!

I realized that I was in the delivery room right in the thick of things. There on the delivery room was a lady, in her twenties or so, her legs high up in the air, astride and the room had several students, more eager eyed and stupefied than I was..the door to the delivery room was wide open and the other nurses went on caring for the other patients. The primary midwife was shouting at the lady ordering her to push the baby out lest the baby gets "tired" in the birth canal. The room was such a flurry of action, students whispering and pointing at the baby's head peeping through from the nether regions, the midwife hurling orders left, right and center, another nurse stitching up a mother who had just delivered, a wailing baby crying on the receiver and of course this woman laboring away,screaming away the last and longest stretch. Oh and there was blood.......and other stuff! I caught a glance of her face and all I could see was confusion, pain, terror, anxiety and was that a fleeting look of shame? After a lot of "prodding" and pushing, she welcomed a bouncing baby into the world and we all sighed, some in fear, others in awe, a lot of us in disbelief but the more seasoned fellows looked happy, it was over and the little one shrieked away pinker than pink panther with a full head of hair!

I don't remember leaving the room, I don't even remember what I did after that. But I remember that woman lying there, astride, her womanhood splayed open in front of how many eyes? Students who just came to "see" what birth is all about. Like watching a movie. I remember the not so friendly midwife, hurling orders, clearing  the way, holding ominous looking scissors. I remember the look of terror, of pain and of shame on the woman giving birth to her precious baby, I remember how undignified she must have felt, I remember how vulnerable she must have felt, I remember how exposed her womanhood was, I remember how disrespected she must have felt to have all our eyes on her, I remember the look of anguish she had, I remember her trying to cover up herself.....

So today, I want  to remember to respect a woman in labour. I want to remember to cover up a woman at this very special moment. I want to remember to encourage this woman. I want to remember to give her privacy. I want to remember to allow her to enjoy birthing, I want to remember to allow her to deliver her baby in the most comfortable position, I want to remember to allow her partner to share this moment, I want to remember to be gentle, I want to remember to wait for the little one to make its way out, I want to remember to give her her dignity back, I want to remember my hand on her shoulder, urging her on, I want to remember receiving the baby in my hands but most of all I want to remember to smile with her when its all done!

Of babies, nether regions and sex

So this issue has been brewing in my mind for a long time now.....in my line of duty, I see a lot of nether regions, ALOT! And we are all different, it's actually amazing, kinda like the way we all have different facial features. There's abit of variation between those who have delivered naturally and the first timers. The best part being that the experienced ones are usually more willing to work with us as we bring the new life forth.

From my study of the human body, the birth canal has very strong muscles which also have the highest tensile strength. A baby's head passes right through it and it goes back to its original state. Since time immemorial women have done this, and men with their women have continually Engaged in intercourse and produced even more babies. Rumour has it that the sex actually gets better, you know, the more the muscle is exercised, the stronger it gets and the more it contracts end result PURE UNADULTERATED PLEASURE!

However, There's a trend in town that women are chickening out from natural birth so As not to 'ruin' the nether areas....so my question today is actually very simple, and I want all to have an input, men and women alike.... Is there a difference in the sex after natural childbirth?

OF A SPECIAL BOY

So two years ago today, I was a patient. I had been admitted at exactly thirty eight weeks for an elective Cesarean section. Woke up very early in the morning, my c/s was scheduled for midday and since I really don't love hospitals I promised my doc that I would be there very early. My hubby drove us there and we went through the rigorous boring process of admission. Now I was really not amused to be on the receiving end of the medical personnel. First, the labour ward was so busy, the place was just crawling with women, some looking more pregnant than I was. I was tossed into a waiting room to await admission or was it a free bed? For some reason, I didn't look like I needed urgent attention because it took us over two hours to get the basic vital signs taken, someone to listen to my little man's heartbeat deep inside my belly and eventually get a gown and a bed! Now we medics are the worst patients and you can imagine that I had started thinking the worst, like maybe there's a cord choking him and no one cares....my BP is rising and these people are not bothered...terrible!

So eventually I got settled in, even wore that gown that is open behind...(why is it even called a gown really????) and waited for my midday appointment(....with anesthesia....what if I wouldn't wake up, what if the anesthetist pushed the tube down the wrong pipe? what if I bled uncontrollably? DAMMIT). My sis and pals were there too, I guess for comfort but am sure they were more interested in the little life that was about to pop. Hubby threw in a comment of how ObsGyn would be an ideal speciality to pursue, I looked at him like SERIOUSLY??? I can't do that? Its too bloody, too messy, too painful every excuse I had in my brain. By the time Midday arrived, he had even drawn up my study timetable for those three months I would be home for maternity leave, an Old Currents Text Book which had been handed down through his family reappeared and let's just say that battle I lost!

So my flamboyant Obstetrician arrived, in full pomp, dressed to kill as always and announced to me that she was very sorry, theatre was occupied with emergencies and her midday slot had been taken by someone. The best she could do for me was schedule me for 7pm that night. Ordinarily that should have been understandable, but tell that to a term pregnant woman and its not the same. I waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaailllllllled!!!Wololo! (Yes I will blame it on the hormones)! OK, this particular pregnancy had been difficult. I remember I used to throw up even at the slightest smell of even water! SERIOUSLY! I remember working at the clinic and some women would come wearing designer perfumes(I sincerely hope they were though) and the moment she would enter my cubicle I would rush to the loo to throw up! and this was at the seventh month! Secondly, the little man inside of me would give me such intense hunger pangs that I actually used to get tremors. I actually walked away on patients in the consultation room to go get a bite. Thirdly, my tummy grew so huge so fast I got so tired of people asking me "you've not yet delivered?" Damn them! Fourth, I had a backache from beginning to the end, add the over sized belly to the equation and disaster! As for my Sex life.................(no words)! So, I was really tired, I wanted him out yesterday! and now, my appointment pushed to 7hours later, torrential downpour!

So at exactly 7pm, I was wheeled to theatre and my son was delivered. a Healthy baby boy, with a perfect APGAR score( I think this is the one and only question I asked when I came out of the deathly throes of anesthesia, ) Two years down the road, he brings us so much joy! He wakes up with a smile, he hugs me all the time, he obsesses over his sister like a brother should , he looks up to his father and tries to fit in his shoes...literally, he feeds so well, he tumbles and falls all over everything! His little mouth is full of teeth, of late, he has started throwing tantrums all over..terrible two at the peak! He has the cutest smile ever, little arms that hug so tightly and he now has a huge vocabulary of words, sometimes he says very funny things we keel over in laughter!

Two years down, am an ObGyn in the making. Loving every moment of this wonderful journey, and trying hard to always think of my patient as myself. Happy Birthday Baby G, I think it's time we dropped the baby and just said Happy Birthday G!