Send Me: Fabella Wrap Up

TRIPLETS

THIS IS A PICTURE OF A MOM IN THE KANGAROO UNIT, BABIES THAT ARE UNDER 2000 GRAMS ARE SENT IN THIS UNIT. THE MOTHER WEAR WHAT IS LIKE A TIGHT TUBE TOP AND THE BABY IS PLACED WITH SKIN TO SKIN CONTACT. THIS WAS FIRST PREFORM IN A MATURITY HOSPITAL IN COLUMBIA. STUDIES HAVE SHOW IT HAS GREAT BENEFITS AND BABIES SURVIVAL RATES INCREASE DRAMATICALLY COMPARED TO BABIES PLACED IN INCUBATORS. THIS WAY BABIES AND MOTHERS ARE ALWAYS TOGETHER TO BOND, BREASTFEED, THE BABY BODY TEMPERATURE IS REGULATED, THE BABY IS BEING STIMULATED AND THE MOTHERS BREATHING AND HEART RATE HELP TO STABILIZE AND REGULATE THE BABIES. IT IS A GREAT BLESSING THAT FABELLA HAS ADOPTED THIS TECHNIQUE AND IS VERY COST EFFICIENT FOR THEM BECAUSE INCUBATOR ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.

LITTLE BABY IN THE PREMATURE KANGAROO UNIT!

Fabella was an amazing experience for me both spiritually and for educational opportunities.

UNFORTUNATELY BABIES AT FABELLA ARE SEPARATED FROM THEIR MOTHERS AFTER BIRTH AND PLACED IN THE NEWBORN CARE UNIT UNTIL THEY RECEIVE A BATH, CORD DRESSING AND SHOTS. ONCE THE MOTHER IS TRANSFERRED TO POSTPARTUM THE BABY IS BROUGHT TO HER THERE. SO OFCOURSE THE BABIES ARE CRYING AND WANT TO BE HELD AND KEPT WARM AND OFCOURSE I COULD NOT RESIST DOING THIS JOB!

Spiritually--It confirmed in me that I am passionate about fighting for life and the care of mothers and their babies. As I comforted mothers that were undergoing a DNC (the manual removal of a child that has been aborted) and praying for babies in the NICU I saw the faces of life as they battle against the darkness of death. I want to fight not just for the unborn but for love and forgiveness for the mothers who are deeply shamed, abused and reject after having abortions. Although I do not believe abortions are justified under any circumstance I think the enemy wins when these women live in shame and fear never being shown the forgiveness of a loving God who cherishes them just as much as their unborn child. I want to be a voice for the babies who are isolated in incubators with feeding tube and blood transfusions that have a great will to survive, they truly are fighters. I want to stand up for families that are suffering from curable causes such as malnutrition and lack of clean water. For me being pro-life is a fight for life that goes beyond the time spent in the womb. It is striving to show each person ever created the love and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ from the moment of conception on.

Education-- I got to see some of the most incredible surgeries that I may never again observe. I watched three hysterectomies. In one case the women has ovarian growths and the tumor the removed from her abdominal cavity was no joke the size of two small twins. I also saw the removal and biopsy of a tumor that had developed from uterine cancer. I watched several Cesarean sections including some preformed of breech presenting babies. I saw the deliver of twins, forceps deliveries, did a postpartum exam on triplets, saw a baby girls born with low extremity abnormalities, watched shoulder dystocias and cord wraps. I preformed 20 postpartum examines watched 15 births, 6 cesareans and much more. It is routine to do episiotomies on all primes so I saw the procedure and suture repairs. I did labor Check-In and got the dilation and effacement correct on my first try which was very exiting.

In one ward they had 76 women plus all their babies and that is not include the ICU, High risk wards, midwifery unit and Kangaroo ward so it is not uncommon to have 200-300 women in the postpartum care each day. The funny thing is this is their slow time of the year. During peak months the commonly have three women to each twin bed. Below are some pictures from that ward taken in kind of a panoramic way.