Today we really got into the "stuff" that I came for! We went to the Iganga Hospital for the Antenatal Clinic. Women travel from all around to attend the clinic-there are no appointments here, so the women arrive very early in the morning, dressed in their best clothes (called a Gomez) to see the nurses and doctor. Women here get 4 prepartum visits-per the WHO recommendation. The first visit is in the first trimester, and hopefully before 16 weeks gestation. Then there is another visit during weeks 24-28, another around week 30 and another at 36 weeks. This is so different than prenatal care in the US, where women have between 9 and 12 prenatal visits.
Women are assigned a number based on when they arrive, and then they enter a large classroom style room for mass education and HIV screening. This is done in private rooms in the US, so again, very different. Then the women get height, weight and blood pressure screenings, plus a head to toe assessment and a focused abdominal/fetal assessment. These are done by the nurses or midwives. If there are abnormalities, they are referred to "ultrasound" or the gynecologist.
We also toured the different wards at the hospital-there are 4 total. A pediatric, male, female and maternity ward. We spent the most time in the pediatric ward: it is a very large room connected to a hallway with exam and procedure rooms. The large room has 40 cribs, but they will take as many patients as they need to-up to hundreds at a time. They double the kids up in cribs, and also have them on the floor. The charge nurse told me that the largest problem is malaria, but they also see a lot of Pneumonia and Diarrhea/GI issues. Oxygen is scarce here, and is very costly, and as this is a free hospital, they do not use this. It was heartbreaking to see a young boy-maybe several months old-in severe respiratory distress. So severe, that he definitely needed oxygen therapy and suctioning. He has likely passed away by now, which is just tragic, as he easily could have been treated in the US. I so wish I had an oxygen tank on my back....
Yesterday, we spent the day in seminars at the Busoga University with the nursing students from BU. It was a very long day, to say the least. After returning back to our hotel, the power was out. It just came back on about 20 minutes ago! Yippee!!! I did my first "load" of laundry here, using a bucket and my own hands. I felt like I was a woman from the 1800's. I don't really know how clean my clothes are, but they are cleaner than before! I should also add that I found a cockroach in my room last night, plus something else unknown scurrying across the floor (I couldn't see anything due to the no power issue) and I just had a candle to light my way. I was sure I was going to start my gigantic mosquito net on fire, but luckily I did not!
We had our first awesome meal last night that was NOT chicken, goat, rice and potatoes. We had a variety that was amazing. I am off to enjoy another "real" meal! I can't wait!
I miss you all, and hope you are all well. See you soon! xoxoxo
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