June 7th: 

Finally feeling better, John and I head to the hospital around 7:30am. There were about 6 of us volunteers total and today was our lucky day! The hospital was scheduled to deliver three babies today, and the midwives and nurses said it would be alright if we watched! John, another volunteer Jamie and I were allowed in the first delivery. Dressed in my scrubs, booties, hairnet and face mask, I stood about a foot away from the mother. One thing that was immediately different from the United States is the lack of care that the nurses and doctors had for the health of the mother. The delivery room was still dirty from the last birth that had taken place and there were multiple delivery beds in the same room. The mother was supported by only an IV of saline. Her husband was not in the delivery room, and there was not a single nurse to comfort her through the delivery. The nurses first forced the mother to empty her bowels in a garbage can, and crudely stuck a catheter up her urethra to empty her bladder. Any cries of pain from the mother were ignored. The baby began crowning, but the head was too big to fit through the vaginal opening. The doctors gave the mother shot to numb the area before making a 2 inch cut - allowing the babies head to emerge. The doctor then grabbed the babies head, twisted it's shoulders and pulled the rest of the baby from the mother. They tossed the baby on the mothers stomach to focus on the removal of the placenta. The baby was removed to a table where it was cleaned and given clothing. Once the placenta was removed the doctors checked it to be sure that every part had been removed, to not leave the mother with infection. The doctors spent the next hour or so stitching the new mother from all cuts and tears.

Meanwhile, John, a few other volunteers and I were able to see a second birth. Again, the nurses and doctors had no concern for the mother as they began the birth by shouting to one another that the baby that was about to be delivered had already died. This delivery was taking place in a bed right next to the woman who had just given birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy. The nurses and doctors forced the baby from this elderly woman. The mother was dehydrated and in poor shape, yet the nurses continued with the delivery without tending to the mother at all. The amniotic fluids smelled of infection. The nurse pulled the head of the baby, then twisted its shoulders in a similar fashion to the first one. They then placed the dead baby on the stomach of the exhausted and saddened mother as they delivered the placenta. Once the placenta was removed they placed that on the mothers stomach to examine it. They took the baby, wrapped in towels and tossed it on the floor under the table where the living baby was resting. The doctors discovered that there was a hematoma in the placenta which was causing the baby to essentially swallow blood, thus killing it. These are often caused by trauma to the womb. Unfortunately for the mother, the baby was nearly fully developed, and it would have been her first daughter.

After these two deliveries, the rest of the volunteers and I decided to call it a day!