Glad I brought the gloves

An update from West Africa...

For those of you i didn't mention it to- I'm back in Ghana, revisiting the village I spent 7 months in last year as a midwife's apprentice. This trip is only for 6 weeks-with a focus on health education, namely, Family Planning/Birth Control. It was noted that during the consultations with pregnant women last year the majority of them seemed overwhelmed by the amount of children they were having, and the frequency. Whenever a test came back positive, there was typically a long silence and then tears.

Our ultimate goal here is to have families giving birth to desired children. And the women are overly receptive to this!

My friend Sophie, along with her friend Radhika (both doctors from London) proposed this 6 week brigade and invited me along. I have never been one who refuses invitations to Africa, so... here I am...

when i first arrived in the village, i jumped out of the taxi and ran into the house i had been living in last year. i was excited to see all my old roommates and a little nervous to see the owner, Auntie, an elderly woman who used to lock me out if i wasn't in by 8 pm. the first thing i noticed was a television blaring from the living room, and when i turned the corner i saw about 30 little kids crowded around sitting on top of one another in complete awe of whatever it was they were watching. my heart sank a little, realizing that electricity had come to the village and this was one of the side effects. i was wondering why i didn't see any tykes in the courtyard running around? i looked for Auntie, so i could greet her and settle my bags. I found her in the kitchen closet, rustling through some bags.

"Auntie? Hi!" i said, glad to see even her.

She turned her head and looked me up and down, grumbled and turned back around.

"Auntie!" i tried again.

Then she slowly turned her head and gave me the weakest half smile ever.

I took that as a cue and ran back outside, jumped in the taxi, and went straight to the health clinic where i knew i would see all my coworkers and friends from the previous year.

There i was bombarded by shouting and hugging and laughing and a lot of "Akua Kessy you have grown fat!". This is supposed to be a term of endearment, so each time I heard it I smiled big and said "Thank you! You too, you are FAT!"

I chose to not return to Auntie's house, but instead, Sophie, Radhika and I cleared an extra room out in the maternity ward (my favorite place any way!) and have been sleeping there.

This has worked to my advantage, and so far I have been a part of 4 births, 2 of which I've been allowed to deliver myself!

Last week I was in my room, reading with Radhika, when one of the head nurses Vic walked by and mentioned "a case" (a pregnant woman ready to deliver) had just come in.

"Where is she?" I asked, looking out my bedroom window and not seeing anybody.

"Ah! She has gone home to collect her things. I told her to stay, but she didn't listen. I checked her and she was close to fully dilated."

I watched Radhika's jaw drop, knowing full well she had never heard of such a thing. I laughed and had a pang of missing birth in Ghana.

"Let's go" i said, "and we should grab 2 pairs of gloves, just in case."

Vic pointed us down the road saying "she lives by the big tree, close to where the old man rests."

I felt the thrill of an impending birth and started to run. We made it to the big tree and started looking but couldn't find any body who looked like they were about to have a baby, until we saw around a corner a tall slender woman, with a fully belly, washing dishes.

"This is incredible!" Radhika said, "she's managing to wash dishes before going to the clinc?!|

But we soon found out this wasn't the woman. The lady we were looking for was wobbling out from behind a mud hut with her hand on the back of her waist and a large grin.

We ran over to her and she leaned both her arms on each of us. We guided her back towards the clinic. At the end of the road Vic, Efreeyeh (the midwifes assistant), and 2 community nurses were yelling at us to "keep moving, keep moving!".

It felt similar to the last leg of a marathon, they were the finishing line.

The woman was walking and spreading her legs wider and wider apart. Her face winced a little and she took a deep breath then quickly hobbled a few extra steps before I felt it. I felt, not physically, but in some energetic change, that the baby was here. I threw on a pair of gloves, raised her dress up, and saw it's wet head dangling there.

"Ahh!" Vic yelled, "it's here!"

The woman fell back into a net of arms that had spontaneously formed around her. I got down on my knees to catch the baby. Some other people came and held up a cloth for the mother's privacy.

The next few minutes were a flurry of adrenaline, teamwork, lots of orders and handoffs. "Clamps! Scissors! Wrap the baby! Take him in to bathe! Let's carry the mother in now!"

45 minutes later we were all able to stand around and laugh at what Vic refers to as "these village women." I was filthy, and my hair was hanging down in my face in frizzy puffs, and most of all I was 100% content.

This is the life, i thought. I'm back, and it's only day 3.

14 days later I have a lot to report...and plan to update my blog and send out some more emails. If you are interested here is the address... www.mashelper-kacie.blogspot.com most of the writing is from last year but new ones will be posted soon.

I hope springtime is bringing life to you as well! Look forward to hearing from you all, take care.

xoxoKacie