We have been in Choma now for almost two weeks. Our time
here has been filled with many new and unexpected events. Choma General
Hospital is where we spend our time for clinical three times a week. Each
clinical day we are split up into groups of two or three and are sent to
different wards throughout the hospital. Some of us have had very uneventful
days, while others have had extremely overwhelming days. We have all been able
to learn from each other’s experiences and have been very thankful for the
opportunities that we have to love and care for these people.
This past Monday I was assigned to the maternal ward with Margaux. Prior to this trip I had never seen a birth or C-section, so I was very hopeful that when we arrived at the ward a mother would be in labor and we could assist with the birth. God had so much more in mind for us than just that. Right as we walked into the ward we went to set our bags down at the nurse’s station. The nurse had just walked out of the labor room and told us that a mother just delivered twins and we could go in and help. We walked in to find the two babies wrapped in blankets on the warmer. The nurse was attempting to resuscitate one of the twins, who at that point was not breathing and was beginning to turn shades of blue. The mother was still lying on the table and the nurse asked if we knew how to deliver the placenta. We told her we did not, but we could continue to ampu-bag the baby in attempt to help him start breathing. Before we left for Africa our team learned a technique called “helping babies breathe”. The purpose for learning this was so that we could take kits over here with us and teach the technique to the traditional birth assistants. I think neither Margaux nor I thought we would have to actually use those techniques by ourselves. I am very thankful that we were educated on resuscitating new born babies. It enabled us to jump right in with confidence and begin bagging the baby. We were both praying and hoping that this little boy would begin to breathe. After about 15 minutes he started responding and began to breathe on his own! What a miracle! By the end of our clinical the little boy was with his mother feeding and still breathing well. Praise God.
After the emotions of that experience, I expected the rest of our day to be a little less eventful, but I was very wrong. During the time that we were working on resuscitating that little boy there was another woman lying in the labor room. She was only 6 or 7 months pregnant and was in premature labor. Her pain began to obviously increase while she was lying there and we were waiting hoping the Dr. would arrive soon. However, the Dr. did not arrive and she began to give birth… another set of twins! The first baby was born and was not breathing. Margaux and Kristin took the baby over to the warmer and immediately began ampu-bagging him. The next baby, a girl, came a few minutes later and was also not breathing. We were all three working on stimulated and resuscitating these babies. Because resources are very limited, we only had one ampu-bag that had a mask that properly fit over the babies faces. We tried to make due with a bigger mask so we could bag both babies at the same time but we ended up having to take turns bagging and giving oxygen. I was primarily working on the first born baby that was a boy. The Dr. and nursing staff allowed us to continue our resuscitation efforts despite informing us that our efforts were futile. At that point we could still feel a pulse in each baby so we were not going to stop. After over an hour of trying to resuscitate the little boy his pulse faded away and he passed on. I will never forget the feeling of holding that little boy after he passed away. It was hard to believe that the excitement of his life beginning had already ended so quickly. My next task was to go and tell his mother that he did not make it. Walking down the short hallway to where she was laying felt like a mile walk as I dreaded what I had to tell her. She responded as well as you can in a situation like that and was very concerned about her other child. I informed her that we were still trying and would do the best we can. When I returned back to the labor room I sat and held the baby boy and just cried and prayed that God would allow for the little girl to survive. I wanted the mother to have at least one child.
Margaux, Kristin and I continued to work on resuscitating the little girl. The mother at first was not interested in coming and holding either of the children and just wanted us to keep doing what we were doing. When the father arrived they came in to the room and he took pictures of both his children. The boy that had passed on was still lying next to his twin sister. The father’s only comment about the boy was that he looked just like their first child. Then he and the mother left the room. We had been trying on the little girl for over two hours now. She still had a pulse and was starting to have more frequent spontaneous breaths. Finally she began to have even more frequent breaths to the point where she would fight us when we tried to give her breaths with the ampu-bag. Her color began to come back and her eyes even opened a couple of times. We secured oxygen to her nose and informed the parents that she was now breathing. I think we were all in shock that this little girl was actually breathing. It was always our hope but after two hours, our already low chance of successfully resuscitating her seemed to have almost hit rock bottom. But God allowed us to witness two miracles that day… When it was time for us to leave, the baby was stabilized on oxygen and the nurse informed us that she was going to try to start feeding her. It has been two days since we have been back to the hospital. When we return to the hospital tomorrow I know that Margaux, Kristin and I will head straight to the maternity ward in hope of seeing this precious miracle thriving.
Over
my time here I have been reminded that God is good all the time. All the time
God is good. It is easy to become overwhelmed by life’s circumstances and lose
sight of God’s goodness. But he really is always good and is so faithful. After
clinical that day we came back to our house for lunch. Sometimes before eating
instead of praying we sing a song. That day Dr. Bee led us in singing “this is
the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it”. That song really
hit us as we were still processing everything that had just happened. Often as we
have heard local Zambian’s pray they end their prayers with “in the MIGHTY name
of Jesus Christ” really emphasizing the “mighty”. Our God is undoubtedly mighty
and powerful. Each day is truly the Lord’s day and with his power and might his
will for our lives will always prevail.
This past Monday I was assigned to the maternal ward with Margaux. Prior to this trip I had never seen a birth or C-section, so I was very hopeful that when we arrived at the ward a mother would be in labor and we could assist with the birth. God had so much more in mind for us than just that. Right as we walked into the ward we went to set our bags down at the nurse’s station. The nurse had just walked out of the labor room and told us that a mother just delivered twins and we could go in and help. We walked in to find the two babies wrapped in blankets on the warmer. The nurse was attempting to resuscitate one of the twins, who at that point was not breathing and was beginning to turn shades of blue. The mother was still lying on the table and the nurse asked if we knew how to deliver the placenta. We told her we did not, but we could continue to ampu-bag the baby in attempt to help him start breathing. Before we left for Africa our team learned a technique called “helping babies breathe”. The purpose for learning this was so that we could take kits over here with us and teach the technique to the traditional birth assistants. I think neither Margaux nor I thought we would have to actually use those techniques by ourselves. I am very thankful that we were educated on resuscitating new born babies. It enabled us to jump right in with confidence and begin bagging the baby. We were both praying and hoping that this little boy would begin to breathe. After about 15 minutes he started responding and began to breathe on his own! What a miracle! By the end of our clinical the little boy was with his mother feeding and still breathing well. Praise God.
After the emotions of that experience, I expected the rest of our day to be a little less eventful, but I was very wrong. During the time that we were working on resuscitating that little boy there was another woman lying in the labor room. She was only 6 or 7 months pregnant and was in premature labor. Her pain began to obviously increase while she was lying there and we were waiting hoping the Dr. would arrive soon. However, the Dr. did not arrive and she began to give birth… another set of twins! The first baby was born and was not breathing. Margaux and Kristin took the baby over to the warmer and immediately began ampu-bagging him. The next baby, a girl, came a few minutes later and was also not breathing. We were all three working on stimulated and resuscitating these babies. Because resources are very limited, we only had one ampu-bag that had a mask that properly fit over the babies faces. We tried to make due with a bigger mask so we could bag both babies at the same time but we ended up having to take turns bagging and giving oxygen. I was primarily working on the first born baby that was a boy. The Dr. and nursing staff allowed us to continue our resuscitation efforts despite informing us that our efforts were futile. At that point we could still feel a pulse in each baby so we were not going to stop. After over an hour of trying to resuscitate the little boy his pulse faded away and he passed on. I will never forget the feeling of holding that little boy after he passed away. It was hard to believe that the excitement of his life beginning had already ended so quickly. My next task was to go and tell his mother that he did not make it. Walking down the short hallway to where she was laying felt like a mile walk as I dreaded what I had to tell her. She responded as well as you can in a situation like that and was very concerned about her other child. I informed her that we were still trying and would do the best we can. When I returned back to the labor room I sat and held the baby boy and just cried and prayed that God would allow for the little girl to survive. I wanted the mother to have at least one child.
Margaux, Kristin and I continued to work on resuscitating the little girl. The mother at first was not interested in coming and holding either of the children and just wanted us to keep doing what we were doing. When the father arrived they came in to the room and he took pictures of both his children. The boy that had passed on was still lying next to his twin sister. The father’s only comment about the boy was that he looked just like their first child. Then he and the mother left the room. We had been trying on the little girl for over two hours now. She still had a pulse and was starting to have more frequent spontaneous breaths. Finally she began to have even more frequent breaths to the point where she would fight us when we tried to give her breaths with the ampu-bag. Her color began to come back and her eyes even opened a couple of times. We secured oxygen to her nose and informed the parents that she was now breathing. I think we were all in shock that this little girl was actually breathing. It was always our hope but after two hours, our already low chance of successfully resuscitating her seemed to have almost hit rock bottom. But God allowed us to witness two miracles that day… When it was time for us to leave, the baby was stabilized on oxygen and the nurse informed us that she was going to try to start feeding her. It has been two days since we have been back to the hospital. When we return to the hospital tomorrow I know that Margaux, Kristin and I will head straight to the maternity ward in hope of seeing this precious miracle thriving.
On a
lighter note, our group will be leaving Choma on Friday to return to Zimba. Our
two weeks in Choma has been filled with clinical time, class work, visiting
Hannah’s home town, having our own “Zambia Olympics”, and many nights of
homemade popcorn, thanks to Dr. Bee. Each day holds many unknowns but I think
it has been a very good challenge for all of us to let go of a little control
and just patiently wait for what God has in store for us next.
Written by: Jaimee Cichowitz
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