Saturday, June 14, 2008

Dar la luz...

On Wednesday of this last week, my four hours at the Red Cross was feeling more like 400 hours because for the first three there were absolutely no patients. Now, not that I wish for harm to befall people or for accidents to happen, but I do want to see something interesting each day that I work at the hospital. Well, the perseverence paid off because last Wednesday may end up being the highlight of the summer for me! I got to watch a woman give birth, which is rare (maybe 2-3 births a month) at the Red Cross because it is strictly for emergencies and the government actually has a program in Oaxaca at the Civil Hospital where mothers can have their babies gratis (for free). It was amazing and a bit disturbing at the same time! I didn't expect to feel so emotional as I watched the baby crown, and then heard the mother cry out, "Una nina, una nina?" (sorry, I can't get the puncuation right on this laptop...). She was really hoping for a little girl. What disturbed the beautiful moment, was that Dr. Paro immediately cut the cord and the student doctor rapidly cleaned up the baby and slapped a diaper on her! I guess I am just so used to all the stories of my friends births were the baby is immediately given to the mom so they can bond even more. Still, it was an experience I will never forget. Oh, and down here, the "romantic" way to say a mother gave birth is "Dar la luz" which means to give the light.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What an experience!!! The babies head looks really big!! Maybe you want to be an ob nurse???

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