A dad brings a 12-day old baby in… no wet or dirty diapers for 3-4 days. Constipation? As I start untying the crude home-made wraps and clothes we see an emaciated little girl, weak, discolored. Yes, the mom is breast-feeding, the dad insists. We educate that she needs to feed her baby more and not put powder on the umbilical cord stump (which is infected), and we give vitamins and a randevou.
A prenatal consult… she sat (with her mother) through the 45-minute course, had a consult with our nurse, got her meds and education, and then told us that the leaf doctor says she isn’t pregnant. Yes, they had done an ultrasound that showed she was pregnant. Yes, they did a urine test that showed positive. But they believed the leaf doctor. We said no, this clinic didn’t hold with leaf doctors, and she could come back in a month for another prenatal consult.
Another pregnant girl in prenatal class with her mother… looks 12 years old. Another one says she is 13 but doesn’t know her birthday.
A husband sits in on Wednesday’s class and respectfully nods along with the other attentive attendees.
30-40 moms sit in on the class, forcing me to have it outside in front of the clinic. The setting is beautiful, but the distractions are more. But this lets me only go through my spiel once versus 3 times. My voice is grateful.
Kids’ yowls fill the clinic on Wednesdays as well. Vaccination day is an act of tough love. We are also happy to get the adult tetanus vaccine again after not having it for so long. Moto accidents and machetes provide enough wounds to qualify for the shot.
A simple mother of many tells me she doesn’t want more children and she doesn’t want planning. Which wish would you grant her?
The difficulties of going down for ultrasounds… financial strain and rocky roads. Should we add placenta placement checks to the already extensive Prenatal Protocol, and stop insisting they go to Fond Parisien for ultrasounds? Neither Jonathan or I feel qualified to that or more than that obstetrically with our Butterfly US, but I did have fun trying to figure out if one of our employees is having the baby girl she wants.
I recognize another child waiting on the benches… a malnourished girl with a young mom. The vomiting and diarrhea have stopped, the mom says, and the very fact that she is following up gives me hope. Love a Child in Fond Parisien has a Malnutrition Center. It could be an option for some if we were to foot the transportation bill, I think. I’m not sure, though, that any mom would be free to go and spend an unknown amount of time away from her family and livelihood. We’ve sorely missed the government-sponsored nutrition program that used to run in Forèt.
And there are happy, chubby babies too. And conscientious parents coming to clinic at the first sign of illness, and to get their child vaccinated. I often think about the starfish on the seashore story… you can’t save them all, but it matters to this one.
Please continue to pray for and support the clinic and the employees, and our clients. Plus, surely there is a North American nurse thinking about coming here to volunteer some time. Please pray for him or her as well. We are grateful for all the support we have gotten. And I also love hearing feedback and ideas on how to improve the care we give.
Nurse Carmina
P. S. Referring to my post on June 14… both Abigael and Yvna, sweet little girls, went to Heaven. I don’t have to wonder about them anymore.