The babies keep coming...

Hiya,
again I must say Vanuatu is GREAT! I love it here. Not only am I getting a super tan (yes!), the island life is awesome and the birthing experience is great. I worked the night shift Thursday night/Friday morning from 11pm-7am. I caught 3 babies and had some crazy experiences. The first baby came out fine, no issues whatsoever, no tears.

The second baby had some meconium staining in the water, and a tight nuchal cord. I didn't want to cut the cord on the perineum knowing it may already have a hard time breathing. The head came out, and no tear. THen I went to summersault the body out to keep the cord intact. I was supporting the perineum also, but somehow she ended up with a 3rd degree tear. I could see the shiny white rectal capsule and did not feel comfortable suturing that myself. I asked the midwife to help, and she had never seen that before either. She ended up suturing it, but I feel if I had to I would have done it the same way. The woman was so calm and patient and did not bleed much.

The third baby came out fine, no tears. The umbilical cord was super thin and weak. After I saw a little separation bleeding (meaning the placenta is ready to come out), I was tractioning the cord (not even very hard, I have done it way harder on other women before with no issue). All the sudden, the cord broke off, there was not ever a snapping feeling. It broke off right at the base of the placenta. I was like "Shit!" but didn't say it outloud. Some of the amniotic membranes were dangling out, so they were able to be grabbed gently with forceps and the placenta gently worked out. It was scary for a few minutes there though. After that, all was well.

Yesterday I did a half day horseback ride. It was the best ever! I went with a woman from my resort, and we rode in the jungle, over some plantation areas and in the ocean. We took the saddles off the horses and just wore our bikinis and literally rode in the ocean. Not just the horses feet, they were practically swimming. The water was over the horses back, so I had to hold onto the mane to stay on. It was the best ever, and the horses didn't seem to mind at all! Today my adductors are a bit sore, but well worth it! And the horses don't know how to nicely canter, they full out gallop. I haven't run that fast on a horse since I was 15. Awesome.

Today Susanne and I are working at the hospital from 3pm-11pm. This is our first afternoon shift. Hopefully there will be some action. Hope all is well out there.
Peace and love,
Samantha*