The waters have broken!

After a few days without rain it is back and coming down more than ever! We left the house at midday and the weather was fine so we left our umbrellas. Big mistake!  We had gone up to see a baby that was just new from a c section but she was breathing quicker than normal. Shubhro wanted to check to see if this was due to a heart problem or a breathing problem. To do this we measured her oxygen levels using the infrared probe that Neil had brought from the UK (an amazing 19 pounds on Amazon! ). If she responded to being given oxygen through a mask and her levels went up then we would know that her heart was ok. They did so we are reassured. She will stay with oxygen on until her breathing normalizes

After that we went and stayed with a woman in labour, monitoring the rate of her contractions and listening to the baby's heart. For a while we couldn't hear it because her bladder was full and she wouldn't pass urine so we had to put in a catheter. We have discovered that this is particularly difficult when they are close to delivering as the baby's head can stop you advancing the catheter tube. We stayed with the mum all the way through but when it came to delivery she was very tired and couldn't push well. She hadn't really eaten all day and hadn't had water in the morning. Her blood pressure had been high and was still high so we didn't want her to be pushing for too long. With every push the pressure in the brain increases which in turn increases the likelihood of seizure. Incredibly she managed to find some strength from somewhere and delivered without the need for forceps.

During this time the rain had become to pour and we heard thunder in the labour room. By the time we came out, the maternity courtyard had become a swimming pool and the ward itself was filled with water. A praying mantis had also appeared, apparently they like to come out in the rain. It crawled onto Elisabeth and caused a hilarious scene of Neil and a nurse screaming at her and Elisabeth dancing once she felt it on her back. One of the nurses knocked it off her and then proceeded to squish it to our horror. Elisabeth had very kindly brought our umbrellas so we went home for lunch (a very late one at 4!)and then headed back to the ward with some brushes to sweep out the water. We managed to get most of it out. We don't quite have Bengali thighs yet (the brushes don't have handles) but we are working on it! No electricity at the moment means that we are sitting with the candles on listening to the rain and the thunder outside. This is what a medical elective in monsoon season should be like! We have jelabes so no complaints from Neil.

We thought we would give you all a little update on some of this week's cases. Unfortunately the very premature twins died at the weekend. The lady with eclampsia from yesterday is doing much better but is quite anaemic. Her baby was still-born.

J x