Akwaaba- You Are Welcome Here

I’ve had an amazing week. I know the last post indicated I was having some doubts, but I think it’s natural for there to be an adjustment period. I finished up my week in Antenatal Care, which was a really great experience. The nursing staff was very helpful in teaching and showing me around, and I gained a view of how health care is executed with limited resources. The staff is doing their best with what they have to work with, but there are definitely challenges. I wonder how counseling and comforting the patients works here. Being in health education, I want so badly to be able to ask these women so many questions about how they feel as a patient. I think maybe it comes down to time limitations. But it's hard for me to get a completely clear picture because of the language barrier. The nurses are great, but there is definitely a power dynamic between the nursing staff and the patients. Patients certainly do not act like consumers of health care. I was surprised at the style of support given when a woman would come in with a high-risk condition or had already had a miscarriage. In the US, pregnancy is such a special thing. Women for the most part are regarded with such care and delicacy when they are pregnant. Maybe it’s because pregnancy is so much more rare than it is here. There really isn’t a woman of reproductive age that doesn’t have a child. It’s still very special; as we’ve learned the inability to get pregnant here is probably the most devastating news a couple could receive. But, it’s strange because this is a very touchy-feely culture as far as personal space goes. One day I was at the market bargaining for some goods and the woman trying to sell me her jewelry touched the corner of my eye to remove some make-up without even asking me. She just stuck her finger in my eye. People openly give hugs too and everyone always smiles and says “you are welcome” or “akwaaba” in passing. It’s an extremely friendly culture. I love it. Yet, I get the impression with the women that came in to ANC, that they don’t need to be pampered in any way because they are pregnant. Pregnancy is completely normal, very common and completely expected.

I was really happy to be around these women. To me pregnancy is such a fascinating process. And it’s so interesting to see all the different shapes and sizes of their bellies – to see if they carry the pregnancy high or low, whether it’s her first and her abdominal wall is still firm or whether the baby is transverse or breech and you can actually palpitate the head. The one very rare event, however, is when the husband/boyfriend shows up with the woman to support her. On top of the fibroids research project we’re working on now, we’ll also be assessing attitudes of women on male involvement in antenatal care. When a man actually does show up with his woman, they get first priority. Literally, they go to the front of the line. And you should see the change in voice amongst the nursing staff when a couple walks in. I may not be able to speak Tri, but I can for sure pick that up.

Tomorrow I start my week in Labour and Delivery. I’m so excited to see a live birth, I’m really looking forward to the week. I’m sure I’ll be doing some clinical work and holding newborns again. Last week, when a woman at 39 weeks came into the clinic, the midwife took her in a separate room to check her cervix for dilation. Then she made me do it. Soooo, again, I’m thinking they think that we’re some kind of nurses or something back home. So with any luck, I’ll be catching babies this week!

For the weekend, we went to Mampong where a few of the others from Michigan are staying. It is absolutely gorgeous up there! We stayed in the botanical gardens. This weekend I'll be here in Tema, so I'll have some time to post the pics. It’s so much more lush and green; there are large rolling hills and mountains. It’s also much cooler. I was even able to go for a run this morning, which let me say, if you ever get the chance to run in Africa, be prepared to sweat buckets. But yeah, it was a real treat to stay there this weekend. Tema has it’s own charm, but it’s really hot and there’s not much of nature-y landscape. So the backpacker in me was super happy to escape north this weekend. Many adventures to come!