The Berry is Out, and the Moms and Babies are Fine.

Monday of a week in Haiti is generally a Threat of Overwhelm, but I think Greg and I both did ok in spite of it all.

I rode the Pink Jeep out on a Mobile Clinic with 4 of our trained Haitian midwives, 1 Haitian midwifery student, and an American RN. We saw 30+ women in Dos Palais, and had some typical Mobile clinic adventures. A woman with a Blood pressure of 170/110 came in, swollen, not feeling well at all.... I was impressed at the clear decision-making and independent function of the midwives. With very little drama, they laid her on a sheet, started an IV line, ( IV fluid bag was hung on a spare piece of lumber with nails in it), and they got the Jeep ready to transport her...all while business as usual kept going: pregnant ladies waddling in for their weight, blood pressure, HIV tests, etc.

Several new mamas came in with their new babies, all doing well. They had their prenatal care with the Jeep, but delivered at home, like most Haitian folks. So these 1-4 week-old babies were having their first check with a health care provider. I examined and taught the student simultaneously. The biggest thing I think we do is the little lecture about "nothing but the breast-- you have what this baby needs! " And the mamas love to hear how perfect he is, how everything looks normal, and that they are ok. In a place where women and babies die in this birthing time, these people are happy to be well on the other side of it. Tonight, I truly dare to believe that these little mobile clinics, with vitamins, iron, worm medicine, and some basic health screening and education, are part of the reason. Really..thank you, donors.

Other than the lady we sent to the hospital, the moms and babies looked great. No other high blood pressure, babies growing well, although I think saw a girl with twins in her belly. I did end up back in the "gynecology corner"...,( if we haven't learned the full lessons we're meant to have, yet, I guess God has a way of sending us back someplace.) Somehow I am meant to serve Haiti with a speculum, collecting chlamydia tests in a a dusty corner of a cement building with a headlamp on my head, sitting on a bucket. OK, God, Here I am. Not my favorite, but STI testing is important, and I'm doing it.

Greg hung household items on the walls, and some shelves and hooks to keep the Midwives House organized...apparently his mission, for now, is so serve Haiti with a concrete drill, getting things off the floor. Late in the day, we went to Maison Fortune Orphanage, where our friend/sponsored child Felos is now housed-- and that's a great story for another day. It's humid and I need some breeze on the porch before I get in my mosquito net!
Love & Bon Nuit from Haiti.
PS: The doctors got Mica's berry out of her ear today. It did take some drugs! Who can blame her?