OB/GYN: A Week of Many Firsts

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This week has been full of exciting opportunities. I was in OB/GYN for
rounds which was really my first exposure to the world of OB/GYN,
and I have found it very interesting here. I really do not have anything
other than my medical anthropology articles to compare it to. I would say
that at least 50% of the women in the postpartum area have had c-sections.
Probably at least 35% are under the age of twenty.Both of these numbers seem
incredibly high!!! Prenatal care is available but most women, especially
teen moms do not take advantage of the free care. The teen moms can be as
young as 12 or 13, the youngest that I have seen is 15 years old. Because
they are so young their bodies are really not ready to have a child. This
results in high levels of Pre-eclampsia in the mothers, and an elevated
number of babies born with anemia or at a low birth weight, or that are
born prematurely. Many of these problems could be treated or prevented
if the mothers went for prenatal care. Teenage mothers just don't
know what they should be eating or how they should be preparing their
bodies,this causes complications not only for themselves but also
for their babies. One of the days this coming up week we are going to go to
a home for teen mothers and talk to them about nutrition and also about how
to recognize the signs of illness in their baby and the difference between a
severe illness and a less severe one. It should be interesting being there
with them. Based on Peruvian trends in births I should be on my second birth
by now. On rounds on Tuesday one of the doctors asked me my age and them
proceeded to compare my age with the rest of his patients. He always asked
them why they didn't spend their time watching TV or on the Internet, or
studying like me instead of getting pregnant, they just laughed. I am sure
they thought I was the anomaly.
This week was also my first exposure to a live birth and a surgery. On Monday I saw a beautiful and healthy baby boy born. It was so bizarre being there and watching a baby squeeze through, such a miracle. It was also scary at first because the baby looked blue and dead when it came out because the umbilical cord was wrapped around its neck, but it was quickly undone and the baby took its first breath and screamed, which was music to my scared heart. I was also fascinated by how much work it really is to give birth. Not only do you have to push a baby through, but you also have to push out the afterbirth, which in the case of this mother took another 15 minutes. After seeing so many sick babies it was wonderful to see a healthy baby born that weighed a little over the average of 2.5kg.
On Monday I also had my first opportunity to see a surgery to fix a broken leg. I was very excited but apparently forgot to breath or move my legs and so I started to overheat and feel faint so I was not able to see the whole surgery. I was so disappointed in myself for missing such an amazing opportunity. Fortunately on Tuesday one of the OB doctors invited me to come and watch his surgery for a tube tie and ligation. According to the intern the doctor is the best in the OB unit. He really cares about the patients and is very skilled. He completed the surgery in around ten minutes. He went in through the belly button and first tied the patients left tube first first tying several knots around a small loop of the tube and then cutting out that piece of tube so that there was no way any more eggs could pass through. Then he did the right side and then stitched her back up with a subcutaneous stitch so that the patient would have limited scarring. The patient was a 33 year old woman who had seven children. Life is hard on the women here. They either look very young or hey look much older than they are. This I believe has a lot to do with the stress of all of the children that they have and also because they all work very hard outside under the sun to provide for their families. Many of the women who come in are farmers, but not many people wear sunscreen here even though skin cancer is becoming a very big problem. Recently we found out that there is a hole in the ozone right above huancayo so I would guess that in the next few years we will see the skin cancer rate here increase.
On Wednesday we spent the morning in the town of Sicaya, Peru just outside of Hunacayo for Farmers' Day which is a celebration associated with San Juan Day (from the Jungle) which is a day that honors San Juan, the saint who is responsible for agricultural success. We watched a parade full of traditional dances and costumes and drank and ate some of the traditional foods for the celebration which included Chicha a alcoholic corn drink, not fermented the traditional way with saliva but underground with sugar. We saw some beautiful animals and all of the kids from the schools in the area also participated in the celebration and parade. They were so cute!! Some were in their school uniforms and others were in outfits that represented the traditional costume of the farmers from the region . Farmer's Day is a very important celebration in Sicaya because over 95% of the population there are farmers. Most farm Quinoa, Maize,and Large Green Beans, and some have some dairy cattle as well. we met the agricultural dircertor for the entire Junin region at the festival which for me was a highlight because the farming in this region is amazing. I have never seen such beautiful terraced farming in my life and so efficient too because the people use every piece of land they can, even the steep sides of mountins that none of us would even dare to cultivate. One thing this week has tought me is that life here in the Junin region of Peru life is hard for most peopl, but they rarely complain, they just keep on working and living. I am incredibley impressed by all of the people here and how hard they work from the mothers, to the doctors to the farmers, old and young everyone is pitching in to make ends meet, it truley is a community effort.

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