Day 31: Clinic/Swing

We had Clinic this morning. Out of 80-85 patients, I conducted 5 prenatals myself - all of which went pretty well. I had one gal who had a UTI that had Pus Cells that were 'Too Numerous To Count' (way to high!!) We scheduled her for a Gramstein, to check for 'abnormalities'. Another gal was only 25 weeks and had a Fundal height of 31!! (It was 21, 1 month before) She was referred for an ultrasound.

I only need one more Assist before I can start handling deliveries.....unfortunately, this shift was dead. Nothing. Zip. Wala. Dili. Silencia.
So, what do you think happens when you have a bunch of midwifes with a bunch of time on their hands??? Well.....
One of the gals here got a piercing design on her side a few months ago, but her body rejected them (of course!). She had gotten all but 6 out (there were 30+), and so she asked Ate´ Suse to take the rest out via scalpel.

So, we all gathered around to give her encouragement, and it turned into a 'labor'!!!!

Here's the basic way it worked: When the injected numbing agent dripped, we called out "SROM!" - Spontaneous Rupture of Membranes, and when she started bleeding, we would call out "Moderate Staining!" When the piercing was almost out, we'd say "Head Out!" & then "Baby Born!" "1 down, 5 more to go!!"
We also kept telling her "Ginhawa la Lume!" x2 - which means "Breath deeply". Of course, she did her part as well, with grunting, pretending to yell out, and stop breathing....it was hilarious, and a lot of fun. It was also quite an interesting procedure!!!

We also prepared for our Outreach trip to the Bukid this next Monday (details later). We will probably be doing circumcision among many other things while there, so we had some time to 'study' up on it. They do it much differently here in the Philippines, and it is usually conducted on boys between the ages of 4-10. They must not make a face or cry out, because it is a sign of manhood, & though they 'have a choice', I'm not convinced they really do. (It's MUCH better to do it at 8 days instead of 4 years in my opinion!!!)