This week I am at The Maternidad, Salo de Partos. The Maternity, Place of Births! I am with Julie with week. We have one-on-one Spanish classes in the morning for three hours and then go to Salo de Partos for the afternoon. We are with Dr. Molina. Monday was very exciting for me; I got to see my first live birth!!!! It was amazing but none the less interesting all the same! The girl was 16 years old and this was her first child. Here in Ecuador for any woman who is having their first child they always have an episiotomy. They also do not have an option of receiving an epidural. The only type of pain medication they get is if they are having an episiotomy they will get a shot of a pain reliever about 4 minutes before they are cut and the baby is delivered. They give the shot on the inner labia (painful!) and the young mother (girl) was crying and screaming in agony. After about 4 minutes the doctor made an incision to open up her vagina and allow the child to crown and come out. He used what looked to us like a dull pair of scissors and we were shocked in belief. I could not believe this! After the incision was made the baby began to crown and only seconds later the whole body was out and it began crying. It was a boy!! The mom began to cry as she held her new baby boy! He came out blue and looked different than what I expected. They allowed the mom to hold him for a couple minutes before taking him away to examine and clean him up. After they took him away the girl had to continue to push until all the placenta was out. The doctor then examined the placenta to make sure it was all there and in one piece and that nothing was left inside the mother; as this can be very fatal. The placenta was dark blue and looked like a small brain.

On Tuesday I was able to see a Cescearian section! WOW! It takes so much time but was amazing to watch! There was a medical student also in with me and the doctor was letting her assist with the surgery-cutting and doing the easy stitching. Didn't look to difficult! However, the process is much longer and the recovery is much longer for mothers who have a c-section than those who don't! This mother was having a c-section because this was her second child and she delivered her first by c-section and thus her second was also delivered by c-section. I was glad I was able to see the differences between the two births and the different processes.However after seeing these….I dunno about having children!! OUCH!!! LOL

The Materidad is very different here…the women do not each have their own individual rooms instead all the women who are about to deliver are in one room together waiting…the each have their own bed…none of which have sheets nor pillows…they use pads (which they have to buy from a drugstore…the type of pads you use when you have your period) as pillows and as diapers- to catch the bleeding. They are given one sheet to place over their belly and legs. No family members, husbands, or partners are allowed in with them before delivery, while delivering or after. Visiting hours are only for 2 hours every day from 2-4pm and the women can only be seen after the delivery if they have been moved upstairs to a separate room. It is so different from the US…this is one part that I did not like about it here…I would hate to have to deliver my child and not have any of my family members with me! The women who are waiting have to listen to the other women screaming in pain during contractions and have no one around them to soothe and help them through this painful process.

The healthcare system is different here in Ecuador because they have to work on little money and work with what they have. For the amount of materials and supplies they have they do a good job, however if they had the resources they would be better apt to take better care of their patients and less fatalities would occur each year.

This week was 7 people's last week here in Quito as their program is only 4 weeks long. Therefore we had a lot to do at night and tried to fit a lot in. We went out to dinner to an all you can eat and drink Tapas y Vinos (Appetizers and Wine) restaurant one night which was a lot of fun! We also went to an Ecuadorian Soccer Game one night which was a blast and really interesting!! OH man! So the Ecuador team was La Liga and the other team was El Nacional. El Nacional scored first off of a great goal within the first minute of the 2nd half, and right after that La Liga came back and scored. Then El Nacional's goalie got a red card because he punched an offensive player on La Liga in the back of the head in the penalty box and they got a PK! La Liga won 3-1! It was an intense but fun game! We also went out and did a Chiva Bus one night. Which is where we ride around Quito on a bus and get to drink this warm liquor drink (which doesn't taste all that great) but we act like idiots and have a lot of fun with each other; it was just all of kids in our program on the bus, a way to celebrate all the fun we have had before everyone leaves. Most people leave this weekend.

We aren't sure what we are going to do this weekend it is still up in the air yet again…some of us might go to a spa like place for a day or hangout and explore more of Quito…we are waiting until next weekend to go off and explore more! But Julie, Peter, and I leave for Chone on Monday and will be there for 3 weeks! I'm excited for a new place and a new change of scenery and warm weather! J

Lots of Love,

Britt