Matteo

Last weekend I became a Godmother, this is one thing I did not expect to happen while I was over here! To make the whole thing even more special, I was asked to be Godmother to my first ever catch, baby Matteo Rosales, born October 8th 2012.

Matteo about 8 hours old with mum Reynaliza and dad Ram

As most of you know, I was green as grass arriving over here in August 2012. I had never even been near a birth room and the only vital sign I felt vaguely comfortable taking would be a person's temperature! In fact on my first day in the clinic when I was learning how to measure blood pressure, the first thing I did was put on my stethoscope back to front, didn't even know that was possible! So my first "catch" was a pretty big deal. In fairness I was doing more observing than catching at this stage, my supervisors Georgia, Marivic and Anie were fantastic in guiding me through my introduction to births and giving me the opportunity to observe as many births as possible.

So I will be forever thankful that baby Matteo's birth was as smooth as can be with no complications. he arrived into the world adequately disgruntled at his eviction from what has been his nice warm home for 9 months, and crying at the top of his lungs, which is exactly how we like to see newborns! His mum Reynaliza and dad Ram were delighted also, they are our neighbours and one of their other sons, Adrian was also born at Abundant. I got to know the family a bit better during the post-partum check-ups. We schedule our women and babies for check-ups 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 3 weeks and 6 weeks after birth. Reynaliza and Matteo came for all their check-ups and also Matteo's 2 older brothers tagged along, so it was lovely to get to know the whole family during this time.

Matteo 6 weeks old with his mum and grandmother.

I think the first catch for any midwife will stay with them the rest of their lives. As I am slowly gaining in knowledge  experience and confidence, every birth is special but there is something about that first catch that I believe stays with you forever.

So out of the blue I get a text from Reynaliza, Matteo's mum asking me would I be Godmother at Matteo's christening. Gobsmacked would be a definite understatement of how I felt at this honor but at the same time I was delighted to be asked.

On March 16th 2013 Matteo was christened at St.Joseph Parish Church, and I was proudly in attendance, along with the 23 other Godparents, I kid you not, here is the picture to prove it!

All the Godparents are listed on the right

This is my first time to be a Godparent and I have to admit it feels fantastic! Being a part of the ceremony was lovely, a little different from christenings I have been to at home, the main factor being the sheer amount of Godparents, but as the family are also Catholic, it was at least familiar. Matteo was wonderfully behaved throughout the ceremony and was like a little celebrity afterwards getting his photo taken.

The Rosales Family

So the added advantage is that Matteo and his family live just behind the clinic, I see this as a great situation! I can pop over for a chat all the time, I do take my role as Godmother very seriously! I just hope that his family are also fans of frequent visits and chats, guess I'll find out soon enough!

Until next time
 x

Needlework

So far I have been totally embracing the whole vibe of being back in student life. Have really been loving the way we are totally thrown in the deep end and the learning is completely hands on. There are no smelly lecture halls to sit in or hours waiting in the canteen between classes. We have a constant stream of assignments and exams with informal classes. And then because we live in the clinic the practical experience is fantastic. It's great that we are able to apply everything that we learn in practise as we are learning it.

After today, I have a bit of a different opinion on how great hands-on learning is. Today was the day that I have been dreading since I got here, the IV class where we practice putting each other on drips. I even considered developing a non-existent fear of needles so I wouldn't have to be poked but it was made pretty clear that there was no getting out of this one.

Myself and one of my fellow midwives, Novie, hatched a plan the night before that we would partner up and we would drink gallons of water so our veins would be perfect. So the class started out innocent enough with a slideshow on the dos and don'ts. And then we got some practice on straws taped to plastic cups before moving on to the real thing.

So decided to bite the bullet and let Novie go first on me. It took a few goes and a fair bit of rooting around before Novie found the vein, and it hurt, alot! Luckily I had two other midwives Joy and Marivic for support and to hold my hand, was a right little baby about the whole thing! But no tears were shed!

Have to say our teacher Heather was very patient with us, must have been frustrating to watch us mess it up so bad!

Needed 2 people holding my hand so I wouldn't leg it!

Novie delighted after 4 goes got the vein, me just happy it finished!

 So then it was my go, tried first on Novie, five tries and no luck. So then I had a go on Georgia, who just happens to be the founder and Director of the clinic. Got a vein alright but with my excitement I blew right through it! After a little break, some cake and a bit of a pep-talk my classmate Deborah very bravely offered her veins for me to puncture and bingo! Got it first try! Well just goes to show, practice makes perfect. Now it is time to unleash us on the patients :)

Honestly hadn't a clue what I was doing

Novie gets put out of her misery after my many failed attempts

Georgia's turn, who better to practice on than the boss!

Jackie and Melody were pros and got it straight away

Very brave Deborah letting me try again on her after seeing the amount of pain I inflicted on the others!

Finally got it!

So there you have it, I do pity the first patient I will have to put on an IV but fingers crossed she will have great veins and I'll have a brilliant poker face, and being in childbirth will be a bit of a distraction from me poking around in her hand, hopefully!

Until next time, I'm off to lick my wounds! 

x

Welcome to my ramblings!

So I have now been living here in Tabuk for 6 months and I've decided it is finally time to get my act together and start giving you a peep into what is is like to train as a midwife on the mission field. I know my title is a little silly but that's exactly what I want this blog to be; a look into my life here that will hopefully raise a few smiles, maybe even the odd laugh!

So far on my grand adventure I have had the pleasure of catching 15 babies to date. I won't be posting pictures of every birth, but a surprising number of our patients are gracious enough to give consent for me to put pictures on my blog of their precious newborns.

Baby Althea Rose Born Dec 13th 2012

It's a bit strange when I think back to 6 short months ago when I was packing my bags to come here, the closest I had been to a birth was watching back-to-back episodes of One Born Every Minute. Now here I am being a part of prenatal care, supporting women through their labour and birth. I have a long long way to go yet but so far I'm enjoying the journey!

One of the most important things I have learned so far is that midwifery really is a skill. There is no amount of reading you can do or leactures you can attend that could prepare you for the experience of being in a room with a woman giving birth. Of course the book learning stuff is important, those heavy medical books that I dragged all the way here are getting lots of use! But when a woman is experiencing the most intense contractions and looks to you for support, it can be frankly terrifing the first few times! Especially when there is no pain relief to offer all you can do is support her, be with her through the pain and congradulate her on her strength after each contraction. I am in awe of my teachers,  the midwives who answer all my silly questions and guide me through each birth.

Clinic Christmas Party 2012

Where I am living is really beautiful, Tabuk is in the Northern Philippines. We live in an area that has a long history of tribal war but thankfully things seem quiet at the moment. Tabuk is the capital city of the privince of Kalinga, but it is not a city like the ones we are used to. Tabuk feels more like a small town that is surrounded by rice fields and hills. It is peaceful here and the pace of life seems to move with the rice harvest. The fields are a hive of activity at the moment with everyone planting the rice and then it will be quiet again until people reappear to harvest the rice.

First step, plowing the field by hand

Families and neighbours help eachother out to get the fields planted as quickly as possible

Typical evening view from our balcony.

The village of Bugnay, where there is a sister maternity clinic

Our neighbors and their buffalo

Anyway maybe that is enough ramblings for one day, more photos and stories to come soon!

Aisling x