anitha

yesterday i was posted with four students in the admissions room at the hospital. this is where every woman comes through - regardless of whether she is a gynaec case, in labour or having postpartum difficulties...
i was sitting with a madame** talking about the commonality of consanguinity, when a man calmly walked in the double doors gripping a hankerchief between his hands nervously. He had been caught in the uncommon monsoon rains of the day and his face told a story of a hopeless husband looking for someone, anyone who may be able to help his wife.
we followed him out to an ambulance* and we helped in the struggle to shift the woman onto a gurney. We rolled her into the hsopital with her family trying to explain what the case was. We caught that the baby had died and that she was being referred from another hospital because of a heart condition.
Once we had her settled, her male family was shooed out and her sister was able to accompany her. The woman, we will call her Anitha, grabbed her husband with the same desperation he first showed and begged him to stay. I witnessed a moment that reminded me of Jesus - he did what he didn't want to do, knowing it would be best for her care, he left her. If the family disobeys the hospital staff the implication is the quality of the woman's health care, as the staff will not tend to her until there is only one attendant. 
Anitha's baby had died inside of her, she was struggling to breathe with a heart condition that had just been diagnosed the day before, she complained of pains in her chest, she was writhing in discomfort as she could not get enough oxygen.
We monitored her condition for 3 hours... knowing that it did not look good. Her pulse rate went up to 148, respirations were 52. She was showing signs of shock with her cold, clammy skin and unheard blood pressure.  Multiple Madames attended to her and showed faces of "its late in the game".
For hours we stayed with Anitha - knowing she needed a ventilator, blood, a c-section... but what of these things were available and was her condition stable enough for them?

We transferred her to another ward, and after the intense 4 hours we decided to take a seat in the canteen. When we came back from lunch, helped with the shift changeover and then when to check on Anitha. We came into the ward to find her body covered and her family coming in, saying their good-byes.

Anitha was one of the 1,300 women that die everyday due to pregnancy related conditions.


*people can hire an ambulance to transport their family but it is not necessarily equipped for emergency
 **OBGYN