another child lost of africa...

i witnessed my first birth and death of a child...it happened fast and without warning...i had barely spent a day visiting my new post when i encountered my frst pre-natal consultation with a young woman from the village...not that long before i was showing a peace corps volunteer from a nearby village my house which is located directly across the street from the health center...we were walking back to the maternity ward when my counterpart, latifatou (the nurse/mid-wife), called me over from the consultation room...lying on the table was a very small young woman with a very large round belly while latifa was listening to the woman's stomach with an old style stethoscope...i waited patiently as latifa checked her vitals...although they were speaking in lokpa, the local language, the woman could barely speak when answering questions...she was having respiratory problems and abdominal pain...latifa turned to me and told me the baby was breeched (baby was feet first)...she also informed me that the pregnant woman had visited a "charlatan" (witch doctor)...she had been married for 3 years and was unable to conceive...in hopes of conceiving she visited the witch doctor who gave her a special cream to rub over her chest and back...what was in the cream we do not know...he even told her that he would deliver the baby and not to give birth at the maternity ward...eventually she conceived this child but with the breeched situation there was no way she could give birth in the village...in order to give birth at the maternity ward, the baby's head must come out first...if not village health centers don't have the facilities to operate...since our maternity cannot do operations latifa referred the young lady to the hospital in Djougou ( the closest city which is 46 kilometers away)...she must have a c-section or the baby and the mother could die...latifa signed the referral form and as we were walking outside the young woman's father-in-law arrived...latifa explained the situation to him and the urgency of leaving right now...i realized that the abdominal pain she was having was actually labor pains and that she could give birth at any time...for a while they did nothing, just sat around waiting...waiting for what?...i didn't know...about 30 minutes went by and finally a zemidjan arrived... they put the young woman on the zem and all i kept thinking was with all the bumps that woman's going give birth on the road...

little did i know that about 30 minutes after they drove off another zem returned with the baby...she gave birth on the road just outside of the village...that woman never had a chance...they placed the kid on the table and i walked in about 5 minutes later...as i walked through the door i stopped short...i had never in my life seen a newborn baby minutes after birth but this baby i later realized was not your typical looking baby...he had a deformed head: instead of being round it was elongated...he had 6 perfectly formed fingers on each hand, his chest was super small while his stomach was twice the size of his entire body, he also had teeth formed just right under his gums (you could see the whiteness showing through)...he was barely breathing taking a breath every 30-40 seconds...it was painful to watch...he died there right on the table within a few minutes... the young woman who had just given birth returned on another zem...i moved away from the door where i had been standing...as the mother walked in she looked over at her dead baby, climbed on the delivery table, and said nothing...she delivered the afterbirth (placenta), wrapped herself up in sarong and walked to the hospital room...not once shedding a tear for her dead baby boy...immediately i walked outside, around the back of the maternity ward and started crying...i was crying for the baby who just died, crying for the woman who just lost her first baby, crying for the countless babies that die here in africa everyday, and i was crying for myself having witnessed death with my own eyes...

shaken from the day before i wondered what my second day at my post would be like…i was laying in bed slowly waking up when latifa called for me to come to the maternity…i got dressed and walked out the door…i entered the delivery room to find a woman lying on the delivery table with latifa checking how far along she was…she informed me that she’s ready to give birth…while standing there, i began to feel nauseous…this can’t be happening…I tried to fight it but i had to walk outside to get some fresh air…i couldn’t believe it…i had a fear of hospitals my whole life but i’ve gotten over it but now it seems that i just can’t handle it…my nausea went away so i ventured back in the delivery room…only to have it return a few minutes later…my brain was telling my body to get over it but my stomach kept insisting that i get out of the room…once again i walked out to catch some fresh air…this happened several time until when i returned again the woman was in the middle of pushing her baby out…oh man, my first live birth…my brain finally won over my stomach and allowed me to stay in the room…soon enough i saw the head crowning, there was a bit of hair on his little head…within a few seconds his shoulders, his stomach, then his legs and finally his little feet come out…it was amazing except for all the blood…yikes, it looked painful too…but it was beautiful…