#secondWeekOfWork

After a small blog break, we're back in action.

In the second week of work, we felt more comfortable as we became part of the respective teams. Cosi continued to work in Maternity and Emma in the Lab.

Emma @Lab: In the second week, we worked very well as a team of three. Blood collection is going super smoothly now, I can even handle rolling veins. The only challenges are adorable crying children, anemic patients, and a very unreliable Hb measurement device. During 'idle' times, I unpacked my notebook and started drawing again. A portrait of colleague Nicholas is already hanging on the wall, amidst test instructions. Since Tuesdays are weighing and vaccination days at the RCH, I offered to help out there and got to accompany an outreach event. We drove by car to an outskirts area of Senya, where people live in significantly poorer conditions. The houses there are rarely made of stone, mostly built with clay, palm leaves, wooden slats, and plastic sheets. We set up a table and equipment in front of one of the larger houses, hung up the scales, and first went around the surrounding houses to inform the families. Initially, mothers and children trickled in slowly, so the work piled up between 10 and 11 a.m. We packed up at noon and had vaccinated and weighed 40 children. We walked back, surprisingly short thirty minutes.

Cosi @Maternity: In the second week, I continued to support the midwives and was already utilized as a full-fledged worker. First, the newborns came for umbilical care, and the 2-3 week-old boys for circumcisions, which are mostly performed with minor local anesthesia and a lot of crying. I had to hold their arms and legs so that they couldn't move anymore. Overall, there were a lot of bodily fluids (including blood) this week. I witnessed my first Ghanaian births and actively helped. The first birth was relatively quick (about 2 hours) and took place on the floor of the clinic. This happened because the expectant mother had knelt on the floor during her contractions and there was no more time to help her to the birthing chair, as the baby's head was already emerging. The birth was performed without a doctor, by two midwives. I was shown how to care for the baby after the birth. Two days later, I was able to get really involved in the second birth. In this birth, I took on the role of the second midwife and called Emma from the Lab with a loud scream. I took full responsibility for the baby and was in charge of its care, as the midwife had to take care of the episiotomy and the mother's afterbirth. Emma supported me in taking care of the baby and was very happy to be involved, as this was her first birth. The baby and the mother are doing well and are happy.

At the end of the second week, we almost felt sorry for leaving our colleagues for a travel week.

Tone of both teams: We will miss you!

Miadogo,

Cosi & Emma