The most exciting thing I had the opportunity to observe in
the hospital this week was the first breath of a new little person! Danielle
and I checked the schedule left by the OR front desk and noted that there would
be a few scheduled cesarean surgeries (c-sections) taking place in the
maternity ward’s OR located on 7 south. We had originally hoped to see a
natural birth but it was a lot harder to try and plan given one could happen at
any given time and might take hours of advanced planning and waiting to see.
When we arrived to the maternity ward, things were a little
hectic while we waited to get permission to observe the surgery. We were almost
able to see an emergency c-section but there were 2 other students also
observing currently in the operating room so we waited for the next available
scheduled surgery they were prepping another OR for. I knew that c-sections
were typically performed on individuals that were conscious but it was crazy to
actually see it all come together with the patient talking and nervous during
the entire procedure. I was actually fairly surprised to realize that the
husband/dad was allowed to be present during the surgery.
When the procedure officially started, the team worked quickly
to remove the baby from the mother’s abdomen. An incision just large enough to
pull the baby’s head out was cut into the lower abdomen of the mom. After going
through layers of tissue and fat, the uterus was slit open carefully and before
I realized what was happening, the doctor had reached in and begun to pull out
a blue-ish tinted object from inside. I soon realized after a bit of pulling
and tugging that in fact the doctor had gripped the baby by its butt and was
wiggling him out. I was very surprised by how quickly the doctor’s were working
and even more surprised to see how they seemed not to be concerned with
handling the baby gently.
After suctioning the nose and mouth for the baby and a few
taps on the back, his chord was disconnected from his mother and he began
crying loudly. The baby was wiped and cleaned off then weighed in at a nice 7
pounds and 7 ounces. The doctor expressed his enthusiasm and approval for the
baby’s wonderful health to the new parents nervously anticipating the arrival
of their first child. It was very interesting that not only was the doctor
focused on communicating with the medical staff, he also periodically checked
in on the mom and would exchange a joke or two while reassuring her that things
were going smoothly. I was surprised to see that the dad excitedly left his
post near his wife’s head behind the surgical sheet to snap photos of the baby
and hold him. He seemed oblivious to the fact that his wife was still on the
table with her insides out…yes, her insides were now outside her body!
We had all gotten so distracted by the baby that we (well,
those of us not directly involved in the surgery) had for a split second had
our attention focused on the little life sitting on a table crying. I looked
over to the surgical table realizing I was here to see the surgery to
completion, and as I looked over I noticed the doctor insert his hand into the
pocket the baby had come out of and he pulled out a fairly large pink object
from inside and plopped it on top of the mom’s belly. The doctor proceeded to
reach his hand into the large object and clean it out. At first I thought it
was the placenta, but a quick glance around told me that in fact the placenta
had already been removed. Danielle and I darted confused looks at each other
and realized what we were staring at was in fact the uterus! I had no idea the
uterus could be pulled out that far from it’s typical home inside the lower
abdomen. After a bit of cleaning and then sewing, the uterus was placed back in
the patient and she was sewed up and ready to be sent home in a few hours with
her little boy.
As I watched the c-section procedure from start to finish,
it became clear that there was still a need for improving the medical care
provided to both the mother and child even in something like child birth that
dates back centuries. While in the NICU, I learned of some research that one of
the physicians was interested in studying involving when optimal clamp time of
the umbilical chord post birth is. I was
surprised to learn a study involving this concept had not been done before. It
makes perfect sense that knowing when to clamp the chord is something that
should be standardized so as to help prevent potential complications.
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