Birth & Children

Today Kun & I saw our first birth in South Africa. We were visiting the maternity ward & it was happening & there we were. The birthing position is without options at this hospital. Supine, flat, no raised beds whatsoever. Feet are tied into stirrups with black straps resembling the fabric of a seat belt. Nevertheless, the experience was beautiful & moving. The woman delivered a baby boy who was initially in respiratory distress but was very soon breathing independently after resucitation. She had an episiotomy, my first to see, which was told after is unusual there since the onset of HIV. Because the infant was in distress, not making a sound, the entire "team" in the room with the woman followed him as he was taken away, somewhere behind the curtain. The woman lay on the table barebreasted, naked with her feet still in the stirrups alone behind the curtain except that she was still with Kun & I. Kun wiped her brow with the crumpled sheet beneath her & I held her hand. The moment I slightly feared, occured next, when the new mother opened her eyes- to see us. There stood an Asian woman & a white woman with blonde hair, comforting her. The universality of childbirth was prevalent through the entire experience but especially when she spoke. Her first words (in Zulu): I am never doing that again. This was only a 30 minute portion of my day.

We visited the pediatric ward to day as well. It was difficult for so many obvious reasons.

Sweet as well, of course. Many children surrounded us and asked to be held...