Some photos...

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Anne-Marie and I in our whites - first day at Mulago Hospital in Kampala.


The second Ugandan baby I caught.


Buttress roots on a fig tree in Mpanga forest.

Today was a busy day at Masaka Hospital. Brynne attended two births, one of which was a total surprise - she was preparing to do a vaginal exam, pulled back the sheet, and there was the head! She caught that baby all by herself as Cathy had just left the room. I came in to find Brynne totally managing things while about 6 Ugandan nursing students stood about the bed watching her in action. She's a star! It seems that many of the Ugandan mothers who have had babies before have very very fast pushing stages. Chloe and Aisia, the students who were here last year, told us never to turn our backs on a Ugandan mother pushing - it's become very evident why that is!
Brynne's second birth was another multip (had at least one baby already)who arrived at the hospital already pushing. That baby had a very tight nuchal cord so Brynne somersaulted him out, just beautifully. It's just so lovely to be able to work with my classmates, to observe them managing births - we never get to see that at home because we're all in our separate placements. What fun to work together catching these babies. And how great to see what great midwives my friends and colleagues are already!

I caught a baby of a first time Mama today as well. She had what the Ugandan students thought was a very long pushing stage (35 minutes) - they were quite surprised that we weren't telling her to push harder, push longer. But we managed things in a Canadian way and it became clear with the birth of the head why things were moving "slowly" - there was a nuchal hand and cord, meaning one of babe's hands was up by her head and the cord was around the neck. It was a little challenging getting the shoulders out with that hand there, so we ended up getting her to move onto hands and knees (sort of, she really didn't understand what we wanted her to do) - then out came the shoulders and the babe with no trouble. And, no perineal tear, which I was very happy with, given she was a first-time mom with that little hand waving at us.

We are finally getting our accommodation sorted here in Masaka - it will be good to unpack for a while and feel like we're not always living out of suitcases. It was a beautiful day today, warm but breezy - a lovely summer temperature though a little more humid than the west coast of BC. We're back to the hospital again tomorrow and I'm so looking forward to it. I so love attending births - what a joy to be here, despite the lack of supplies and the challenges with language. We are slowly getting some key phrases and words, but there's so much more to learn. So far we can tell women to 'push', 'don't push', 'boy', 'girl', 'good morning', 'thank you', congratulations'. It's coming, but our communication is very dependent on the Ugandan students - luckily they are eager and happy to work with us, which is great.