Sad Stories

There are really sad and humbling moments. Other times are joyous and happy. Zambia has so many stories. A woman Aly attended last week filled us both with sorrow. E.Z. is 44 years old and speaks a little English (her husband is a teacher). She appears healthy. In fact, she is very healthy. This pregnancy was her 7^th. She had birthed 2 sets of twins that all had survived birth. After this last birth she planned to have a bilateral tubal ligation (BTL) so that she cannot have anymore children. When her big healthy baby was born Aly lifted it up to show her the sex (which is common here) and she just turned away. She turned away because it was a Mukazi, another baby girl. The only boys she had were her last set of twins and they had both died at age 2 from diarrhea. In a world where so many children are born too early or sick Aly wanted to be so happy for her that hers was so healthy and robust. But, sadly, for her it meant she would never have boys.

There have been 3 maternal deaths this past week. Two died after their cesareans and one died from advanced AIDS. It is really hard when a woman dies and the ward has been a bit depressing. The one woman (B.P.) was a 17 year old with her first baby. Aly had attended her during her labour and when B.P.’s labour became dystocic and needed an operative birth Aly went with her to surgery to receive the baby. Her baby girl was delivered healthy and crying which was such a relief because the surgery itself had taken a long time. Aly showed B.P. the sex and returned to the labour ward to weigh the newborn. The strangest part was carrying this newborn into the change room, putting her down in a locker while Aly changed and then walked outside back to labour ward. Aly met her ambuya (grandma) along the way and she was delighted and so happy that a healthy baby had been born. We went together to weigh and wrap her. Later that evening we went to check on B.P. and she was looking well. We all shook hands and said congratulations. Both B.P. and her ambuya were so happy. The next morning when we arrived for work we found out that B.P. had died in the night. Her baby is now an orphan living in the SCBU waiting to see which family member might be able to collect her. At the moment their grief is so extreme they can’t think of collecting the newborn girl without a name.

These are the stories that are so sad. There are others that are happy.