Your questions answered...

I wondered about the birthing center or is it a hospital?
The condition at the hospital is very different from what any woman living in the West would be accustomed to.

Before we left Australia my school and I took a tour of a private hospital's maternity wing and they showed us one of their private rooms where a woman could come to give birth. It was a nice clean room, with a private shower, a tv set, chairs, a table, a comfortable bed, and big enough to have friends and family around. The room was equipped with everything. And it was just across the hall from the OT in case of the need for emergency C-S.

Now I will contrast that picture with the conditions for women here in Tanzania.

The hospital where I work does not have private rooms for anyone. All of the pregnant women labour together in one small, crowded ward. There are not enough beds for every women to have their own, so they share - sometimes with 5 pregnant women on one twin sized bed. And even then there's not enough room for everyone. Some women just sit or lay on the floor. Often the women labour alone, because there are not enough staff to give individual care to each woman.

Can the ladies have their husbands with them in labor?
No. The husbands are not allowed to come in with their wives into any of the wards. And even if the hospital policy allowed this, many of them would not do that simply because it is not something culturally normal to do.

Are most of the ladies married? Many of the women are married. However some are not. A few weeks ago I was in the labour ward standing by the bed of a young girl, 16 years old who was a Christian living with her Muslim boyfriend. She spoke English very well and so we were able to talk in depth, which was one of the first times I had a conversation with a woman at the hospital. She told me some of her story. A difficult one to hear. She was raped by her father at the age of 15 and had run away from home. Since then she has not spoken to her mother or seen any of her siblings. She told me that she was ashamed to be pregnant. I asked her what her dream was and she said her dream was to be a pastor and tell people about Jesus and God's love. As this young girl lay there labouring with her first child she quoted John 3:16 to me. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..."

She talked to me about her fears. And in fragments of speech she conveyed her emotions about this pregnancy. How she decided she could not choose to have an abortion because in her heart she knew that the baby growing in her womb was valuable. - "This baby maybe has ears or a nose, and it is valuable to God just like I am." She understood something very important, and even in her distress and heartache she recognized that Her Creator loved this baby in her womb. She chose life.

Can you give the ladies any medication during labor?
If you are wondering about medicine given to relieve pain, we do not give any. There isn't any available to give. However, the women are sometimes given oxytocin IVI ( intra-venous infusion ) to augment their labour. And it is protocol to give every woman oxytocin IM ( intra-muscular ) after the birth of her baby to contract the uterus and deliver the placenta by controlled cord traction. For eclamptic women we give magnesium sulphate IV and IVI to control the fits. And for women with hypertension we give hydralizine IV slow push. I have done this once.

Is their a doctor always available or are you on your own sometimes?
We usually always have our staff with us. They are trained midwives who have completed this school before us. But there is rarely a doctor available; due to the shortage of staff. For the first delivery I was a part of however, I was completely alone. The story explaining why that happended is in another blog post.

Can you freely share the gospel with the ladies? Yes!! We do freely share with the women and the nurses, midwives and doctors whom we work with. We are able to pray with the women during labour and after their babies are born. Birth is a beautiful and unique opportunity to share God's love and character with the women. Think about Psalm 139.

Do you work a certain shift? We work in teams from 8am - 3pm Monday through Friday.

Do you have indoor plumbing? We do but we are only allowed to use the indoor bathrooms at night or if we are sick because it is expensive. On the base there are two outdoor pit latrines for everyday use. And there are three stalls with buckets for showering.


I hope you enjoyed reading. I am sorry I did not have time today to finish answering all the questions, but we need to start heading back home from the city before it gets dark. I'll try to finish answering the questions soon. Thank you for asking, they are all very good quesions.

May your new year be filled with joy from knowing God's love.

Love, Orissa