Dr. Dabo, the obstetrician, went on a much needed vacation for the month and Brent was in charge of the Obstetrical Service. This meant Jennifer was in charge of the house, children and working in the Outpatient Department. Dr. Eugene covered the Medical Wards and Pediatrics. Surgical Services were covered by Drs. Lazare and Foko.
There were 62 deliveries and of these 24 were cesareans and three sets of twins.
The love and support provided by the staff, Sisters and patients was very humbling.
Brent had a world of help and one case exemplifies this.
A young lady who is HIV positive presented with rupture of membranes but without contractions. She was not sure how far along she was with the pregnancy. The baby was anywhere from 28-32 weeks old (normal 37-42 weeks). There were many questions on what to do for the baby and the mother. The longer the baby stays in mom, the better for lung maturity so it can breathe on its own when it is born, but the longer the rupture of membranes the greater risk of HIV transmission to the baby and the greater the risk of infection entering mom's uterus.
We contacted US based Obstetricians, a Family Doctor, Perinatologists, a Neonatologist, consulted with Dr. Eugene and even called Dr. Dabo!
In the end we gave medicines to help mature the baby's lungs, antibiotics to prevent/treat infection, and HIV medicines to prevent transmission of the virus to baby.
After about a week we gave mom medicines to induce her labor. Baby delivered without difficulty and weighed 1500 grams (3 lbs 5 oz). The baby spent the next three weeks in the "incubator" and has grown to over 2 kg. It has been receiving expressed breast milk via a tube and nursing some. The baby will stay in the hospital until it can breastfeed and/or feed with a cup and maintain steady weight gain. We hope to be able to discharge the baby within the next month.
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