Ester and Stella and Happy

Ester and Stella
Two pregnant women giving birth in the same hospital, on the same day, at the same time. Two babies who could have been twins from different mothers. One survived, the other didn’t. Monday morning began with my first patient having her baby on the muddy floor of the labor ward. After catching the baby, delivering the placenta, and giving the mother a shot of Oxytocin, I turned around to a small voice calling for a nurse. Stella was a small woman, pregnant with her first child. Her membrane had already ruptured and she was breathing hard through her contractions. I helped her move to the opposite end of the ward and began prepping for another delivery. Loud screams drew my attention. I rushed over to see Amy assisting a complicated delivery. Ester had been in labor since 5am, but the baby was not delivered until almost 11am that morning. The baby looked blue, was unresponsive to stimulation, and was not breathing.

I heard Stella calling and came over. An hour had already passed since her membrane ruptured, but she was still unable to push the baby out. I called a nurse over and watched her perform an episiotomy to help with the childbirth. The baby came out with the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck multiple times. I unwound the cord and rubbed the baby’s back. I’ve never been so relieved and happy to hear a baby’s cry. I carried Stella’s baby to the next room to be weighed and saw a small bundle placed on a cart underneath the scale: Ester’s dead baby with its tiny blue feet sticking out from the underneath the blanket. My heart broke. I wanted to mourn for a life of a child that might have survived had we had nurses and doctors monitoring or better tools and technology. But the chaos of the labor ward allowed no time for mourning and grief. I repressed the emotions and pulled myself together, left the room and walked back to the beds where the women lay awaiting delivery.

Happy
Her name says it all. Happy was another mom-to-be in the labor ward whose baby I helped delivered. She was another small woman who had a complicated delivery due to her small size. The baby came out unresponsive, cold, and lifeless. I felt numb. Having seen what had happened with Ester’s baby, I rushed Happy’s baby to the crib and started suction and resuscitation. I lost track of time as I stood over the baby, willing it to breathe. When I saw the baby took its first breath, I was truly happy for the first time that week.