Survival of the fittest

I haven't really had a chance to tell you what I've been up to at the hospital for the past two weeks. Basically, I can sum it up in three words... babies, babies, babies.

I have been hanging out on the labour ward which, I have come to decide, is a very hard core place indeed. It is incredibly busy (they have had over 1000 deliveries already this year) and almost has the feeling of a factory. Actually, the nurses have about as much compassion as they would if they were working on a garbage sorting line, so I think this is actually quite a good analogy. I guess you'd get a bit tired of it as well if you were delivering 10+ babies a day.

Giving birth here can be brutal actually. There is absolutely no pain relief, no encouragement, no dignity and no choice. My biggest lesson out of it all has been realising the extreme resilience of human beings. These women endure long, hard labours alone, episiotomies without anaesthesia, and suturing without adequate nerve blocks and still manage to get up off the bed 5 minutes later and walk themselves off to postnatal ward. Absolutely amazing.

For the babies too, it is a test. You get the impression they have to fight their own battles right from the start. The little premature babies are put into a hot, humidified room away from their mamas. There are no machines here to do their breathing. No fluids, no monitoring. Some are lucky enough to go into the 'kangaroo' room where they do skin-to-skin nursing with their mums which improves their outcomes significantly, but there is just not enough space to do this for all of them.

But for every poorly baby, there are about 10 healthy screaming ones that just make me so broody that the nurses just laugh as I cuddle and sway them. Well if I don't hold them, no one will. They get plopped here on a table under a heater and a blanket (on the right).

There is even a mama dog that hangs around outside the ward. It is so funny to see her lying out on the grass with all the labouring women when the cleaners take over the ward and kick everybody out. I think she feels for them.

There is another reason why I have entitled this post 'Survival of the fittest'. Yes, the time has finally come for SAFARI!!! I am so excited as I think it is going to be the perfect way to cap off my time here. Fingers crossed I will come back with some cracking photos of the big five for you. I'm actually hanging out to see flamingos - if I could see them I would be one happy chickadee!

I'll be back on Monday.

Till then x