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!
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment