This morning we were again left in the OR to find things to do. So we watched a hysterectomy from the window (usually you're not allowed in surgery unless you have a doctor with you, but sometimes if you ask the surgeon he/she will allow you into the room to watch). After this we decided to go to the labour room with our fingers crossed that we could watch another baby come into this world. And luckily as we arrived one of the nurses pointed to the labour room and said "baby coming now" so we quickly changed into our scrubs and went and sat quietly in the labour room. This birth was hard, it was difficult for us to watch, let alone imagine how much pain the mother was in. And when the baby was born we could see why, she was a big baby. But she was a beautiful baby and there was a glimmer of a smile through the pain when the mother saw her for the first time. Nurses then told the father that he had a daughter -the fathers and men other than the doctors and nurses are not allowed into the birthing ward because there are many women in labour or contracting at the same time and out of tradition it is not deemed as respectful for a man to see another woman other than his wife in labour. The baby and placenta are then checked and the baby is vaccinated before being placed on the mothers breast to begin breastfeeding. While the baby is away from the mother the mothers uterus is massaged and if she has had an episiotomy (which in this case she did) she is stitched back together before being reunited with her baby in the ob/gyn recovery ward. The father can then see his baby for the first time.
After lunch we headed to the out patient ward where minor surgeries/procedures/check ups/ultrasounds are done. We saw a woman who had had a miscarriage but the placenta was still attached to the uterine wall, we then saw a woman with endometriosis which is a case where uterus cells are growing on the outside of the uterus wall which causes a lot of pain to the woman when she has her period, treatment for this is either painkillers, injection of male hormones or surgery (hysterectomy) but this woman was only 25 and she may want children so her options were limited to pain killers. After this we saw ultrasounds and tests of the amniotic fluid and of the foetus' blood from inside the umbilical cord. These tests can determine whether the baby is carrying any diseases or abnormalities. It was so beautiful to see these woman see their babies for the first time through the ultrasounds.
For dinner we went to a riverside restaurant which was lovely before we all piled into our mini vans and headed off to Zoe's. This time there was a 500 baht fine for anyone that threw up in the vans on the way home. Zoe's was fun, just your average tourist bar where you spend your time chatting with other tourists, having a bit of a boogie and sharing buckets of cocktails.