I have had a fruitful afternoon.
This afternoon, I did a lecture on the birthing process to the medical and non-medical staff. Child birth in Manipuri is “angang pokpah” which literally means, “child coming out”. I specifically chose this topic because of a lot of reasons. I want the nurses and the midwives to understand that the practices they are doing is outdated and harmful. I also want to teach the staff (mothers and mothers-to-be) to handle babies as soon as they are brought forth into this polluted world. I want the fathers to be aware of their responsibilities when their wives (or girl friends) go into labor. These reasons - plus the fact that some of the staff either just gossip or play karambola in the afternoon when there are no patients in the clinic.
The topic was controversial. I wanted to do some adverts a day before in the local tongue, but I ended up mis-pronouncing "birth" and was heard as "bird". So I made some posters saying : "Uchek: a new experience" ( I learned later that "uchek" means bird - It's like, what the hell is there to experience with a bird?). After the miscommunication, I posted adverts on the office and clinic walls so everyone is aware. I had the health educators simulate a birthing process – never omitting anything the midwives and nurses are doing: from the patient examination to the caring of the newborn baby. I asked one of the male health educators to act as the pregnant woman and the other guy as the midwife. The guys really played their parts marvelously! The minute that they came out – wig, apron and all, the crowd was rolling with laughter. We had a doll strapped to his belly and had a red scarf as the placenta, so they could properly act out and have props as well!
My guys were very natural.
After the skit, we discussed the common practices that are are harmful to both the mother and baby. It was a bit of a discussion, because we did not only identify three or five problems but eleven! The discussion should have been for only 30 minutes but because of the questions we had it running for an hour.
Just to give you an idea of the common practices here: discarding the colustrom and not giving it to the new born, cleaning the fresh umbilicus with the mother's saliva and or salt, pushing the uterus till the baby comes out. The latter is also a common practice in some culture (fundal pressure) and oftentimes, it does more harm than help. We identified the issues, talked about consequences and clarified a lot of things.
At the end of the lecture, I was mobbed by some staff asking more questions. This time not as an-obstetrician-wannabe, but as a pediatrician. I am glad to have done this lecture. I am glad to be here.
I love my life.
This afternoon, I did a lecture on the birthing process to the medical and non-medical staff. Child birth in Manipuri is “angang pokpah” which literally means, “child coming out”. I specifically chose this topic because of a lot of reasons. I want the nurses and the midwives to understand that the practices they are doing is outdated and harmful. I also want to teach the staff (mothers and mothers-to-be) to handle babies as soon as they are brought forth into this polluted world. I want the fathers to be aware of their responsibilities when their wives (or girl friends) go into labor. These reasons - plus the fact that some of the staff either just gossip or play karambola in the afternoon when there are no patients in the clinic.
The topic was controversial. I wanted to do some adverts a day before in the local tongue, but I ended up mis-pronouncing "birth" and was heard as "bird". So I made some posters saying : "Uchek: a new experience" ( I learned later that "uchek" means bird - It's like, what the hell is there to experience with a bird?). After the miscommunication, I posted adverts on the office and clinic walls so everyone is aware. I had the health educators simulate a birthing process – never omitting anything the midwives and nurses are doing: from the patient examination to the caring of the newborn baby. I asked one of the male health educators to act as the pregnant woman and the other guy as the midwife. The guys really played their parts marvelously! The minute that they came out – wig, apron and all, the crowd was rolling with laughter. We had a doll strapped to his belly and had a red scarf as the placenta, so they could properly act out and have props as well!
My guys were very natural.
After the skit, we discussed the common practices that are are harmful to both the mother and baby. It was a bit of a discussion, because we did not only identify three or five problems but eleven! The discussion should have been for only 30 minutes but because of the questions we had it running for an hour.
Just to give you an idea of the common practices here: discarding the colustrom and not giving it to the new born, cleaning the fresh umbilicus with the mother's saliva and or salt, pushing the uterus till the baby comes out. The latter is also a common practice in some culture (fundal pressure) and oftentimes, it does more harm than help. We identified the issues, talked about consequences and clarified a lot of things.
At the end of the lecture, I was mobbed by some staff asking more questions. This time not as an-obstetrician-wannabe, but as a pediatrician. I am glad to have done this lecture. I am glad to be here.
I love my life.
Good day, good job!
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