Day 6

Monday June 8, 2009

Today was the first day at the hospital. Jill and Selvi are both in my group and we were immediately thrown into surgery. We observed a tubule ligation, cesarean section, and hysterectomy. The cesarean section was the first time I have ever seen a human being born. It was amazing to say the least. The baby girl was so little (~5.5 lbs) and just cute as a button. During each of the surgeries the women were given spinal blocks but were not given general anesthesia. This is normal in the US for cesarean sections, but not for the other surgeries mentioned. 

After surgery we attended the antenatal clinic where we observed the nurses taking the patients blood pressures. Then the doctor examined the women, and the three of us were allowed to palpate the women’s abdomens and were instructed on how to determine the week of pregnancy based on how many fingers one could place between the “belly button” and sternum.

One interesting observation of the day is that everything was done via assembly line. The surgeries were much like surgeries done during spay neuter clinics, one patient is finished and the other is immediately brought into the room. And at the antenatal clinic, women lined up to be examined and had to crawl through a window in the wall to get onto the examination table. (I will try to get a picture of this so check back in the next couple of days).

All in all this was a great first day! Lots of surgery which I enjoyed the most!