Oh Baby!

On Monday of our last week in Pommern, it was Baby Wellness Day at the clinic. Once a month this special event is held so that mamas can bring their young children in for a general check-up in which the baby/toddler is weighed and given vitamins. Some also receive immunizations or are tested for HIV.

When I arrived at the baby clinic, I relieved one of the local nurse aides for a little bit and gave some sort of vitamin to each child. I had to cut off the top of a little teardrop shaped pill that had liquid in it and squeeze the six drops or so into the child's mouth. Older children also had to take a chewable vitamin. Most of them didn't like the taste of any of it, and I definitely felt like a mean old nurse force feeding them while they screamed or cried. It's hard to do something to a child that you know they don't like but you also know they need to be safe. 

I did that for a half hour or so, probably seeing 30-40 babies in that time, definitely rapid-fire pace. The children were also weighed, and their weight was recorded and graphed. Similar to other experiences I had at the clinic, I was surprised by the openness of the facility, and I was even more surprised that I could be given a task I'd never done before with only very brief instructions and be trusted to do my job well.

Sonia and Amy getting ready for baby weighing.*

Dr. Godlove talking to some of the mothers and babies;
Kendra and Sonia listen too.*

Me pushing my way through the many moms and babies to go
into the room where I would be giving the vitamins.*

That afternoon I went with Kendra to the actual clinic (the baby clinic is a separate building next door) where she was helping Nurse Patricia see, diagnose, and prescribe treatment to the regular patients. Each patient brings their own notebook when they come in, in which Dr. Godlove (or Nurse Patricia today since Dr. Godlove was busy with the baby clinic) records the patients' symptoms, the diagnosis of the problem, any lab tests that should be run, and the prescribed treatment. The treatment seems to often be Tylenol or some other basic medicine that's available over-the-counter in the States. As Patricia recorded the information in the patient's notebook, Kendra wrote important details in the log book that's kept at the clinic. I mostly just observed the process, taking a woman's blood pressure once.

Kendra with Nurse Patricia*

Among the cases we saw in less than an hour that afternoon was a 13-year-old boy of the physical size and stature of a 7-year-old. He was all skin and bones, and you could literally see his spine, ribs, etc. showing through his thin skin. Heartbreaking. Another woman (the one whose blood pressure I took) was pregnant and experiencing abdominal and pelvic pain.

Other experiences I had at the clinic throughout the three weeks I was in Pommern included a tooth extraction, a couple of circumcisions, and a birth. When the tooth extraction was finished, the man was offered his tooth but did not want it. Apparently some people who believe in some of the ancient superstitions and witchcraft do not want someone else to have a piece of their body, so the offer to allow the patient to keep his own tooth is important. They typically do circumcisions when the boys are older — 5, 7, 9 ish — as opposed to when they are born, trying to minimize the risk of infections when they are babies. Local anesthetics are used for things like the tooth extractions and circumcisions, but as for the birth, it was a completely natural birth with no painkillers, and I was shocked at how quiet the woman was through the entire process.

When we were in the clinic for those type of events, we were able to assist by handing tools to the doctor or nurse, holding the hand of a child for comfort, and so on. I had mixed feelings a lot of the time about whether we were really helping or more just in the way, but part of it too is a cultural difference where speed and efficiency aren't the most valued things.

The doctor and nurses are very careful about wearing surgical gloves and surgical masks when appropriate, and they properly sanitize the tools they use. The clinic doesn't look like any American facility though (see this entry for more pictures of the clinic), and it was important for me to set aside my expectations from home and understand that they truly do the best they can with what they have. I have to admit though, I wouldn't want to be sick in Pommern, and it makes me very thankful for the medical care available at home that I so often take for granted.

*All pictures in this entry were taken by Edward