I never got pregnant nor am i a gynaecologist . Then what was i doing inside a labour room(place where pregnant women give birth ) ? That was long back while i was doing my housesurgeoncy in medical college .
Having long decided that i never wanted to be a surgeon i used to spend more time in the canteen attached to the operation theatre than in the operating room . Internal medicine and radiology was different as i loved them because it was strongly analytical in its approach . Then how come i enjoyed my labour room posting ?
It was because of many many reasons . During housesurgeoncy we were generally scattered around different units and being students we missed the company of our fellowmates. In labour room being a large teaching hospital we were posted in large groups . Not only that parallelly there were a set of seniors posted together in the form of gynaecology postgraduates . This large group with excellent camaderie and friendliness made the posting a memorable one .
The learning was supervised and we had small duties like checking the fetal heart rate , mothers heart rate , blood pressure and the rate of pitocin drip etc . As beginners in medical field as housesurgeons this was a great practical experience and just like you feel very secure when entering the swimming pool from the shallows with 10 lifeguards watching it was a great learning experience . And then there were the births ... the natures way of beginning of all of us , you and me included and this was the place where it was seen which showed how organised nature was . As housesurgeons we were entrusted to conduct natural deliveries under supervision . It was really a humbling experience to realise the complicated process of labour being done with minimal intervention by us and mostly without any complications . That was natures power . This was in stark contrast to other specialities where primarily you deal with disease .
This doesnt mean that this specialty is less important . Just like policemen though its a rare event , its when things go out of the way that this careful monitoring pays its dividends . Just some decades back 1 in 10 women used to die during childbirth and modern gynaecology and obstetrics has powerful monitoring methods and spectacular medicines to reduce this maternal and infant death drastically .
Fortunately during the entire period of housesurgeoncy i saw very few deaths . But the only one i still remember because it was so fast was a young lady brought with amniotic fluid embolism . On her entry she was talking fine and just in a minute or less without a wince she closed her eyes permanently . The amniotic fluid which acts as a shockabsorber for the baby had gone in minute amounts into her blood and caused her lungs to shutdown suddenly . Especially surrounded by the beginnings of life everywhere this was a stark contrast retrospectively thinking even now . Then i realised the helplessness of people in front of nature .
Now, the same labour room had other sights in store . Usually healthy women go into labour . But one of the beds had a severely breathless woman under direct care of the chief consultant . I asked my seniors what was the issue . Apparently she had severe heart disease which prohibited her from getting pregnant . But knowing fully well of the risks she became pregnant and was now fighting both the disease of heart and the fluid overload of pregnancy . A combination of her will , medical help and fate made her survive and deliver a healthy baby . I often think of her fighting much more stronger than any fight i have seen in action movies .
Non-doctors have their own assumed thoughts about how doctors conduct their daily work , but house surgeoncy showed that at least for we housesurgeons it was some work , some camaderie , some light moments and a few moments like the above which showed the value of life and the human spirit .
P.S : last but not the least one of my MBA cousins recently told quite seriously that doctors think of women in a perverse way always and when she told this my mind went back to the labour room and all the above scenarios . To be honest , me or my friends never used to look at any woman patient other than as a patient . But again to be honest we used to look at all the postgraduates of gynaecology posted there as they were the prettiest in our college at that time ... And one of them was a good singer and used to hum a song whenever she walked ...And i love music :)
Having long decided that i never wanted to be a surgeon i used to spend more time in the canteen attached to the operation theatre than in the operating room . Internal medicine and radiology was different as i loved them because it was strongly analytical in its approach . Then how come i enjoyed my labour room posting ?
It was because of many many reasons . During housesurgeoncy we were generally scattered around different units and being students we missed the company of our fellowmates. In labour room being a large teaching hospital we were posted in large groups . Not only that parallelly there were a set of seniors posted together in the form of gynaecology postgraduates . This large group with excellent camaderie and friendliness made the posting a memorable one .
The learning was supervised and we had small duties like checking the fetal heart rate , mothers heart rate , blood pressure and the rate of pitocin drip etc . As beginners in medical field as housesurgeons this was a great practical experience and just like you feel very secure when entering the swimming pool from the shallows with 10 lifeguards watching it was a great learning experience . And then there were the births ... the natures way of beginning of all of us , you and me included and this was the place where it was seen which showed how organised nature was . As housesurgeons we were entrusted to conduct natural deliveries under supervision . It was really a humbling experience to realise the complicated process of labour being done with minimal intervention by us and mostly without any complications . That was natures power . This was in stark contrast to other specialities where primarily you deal with disease .
This doesnt mean that this specialty is less important . Just like policemen though its a rare event , its when things go out of the way that this careful monitoring pays its dividends . Just some decades back 1 in 10 women used to die during childbirth and modern gynaecology and obstetrics has powerful monitoring methods and spectacular medicines to reduce this maternal and infant death drastically .
Fortunately during the entire period of housesurgeoncy i saw very few deaths . But the only one i still remember because it was so fast was a young lady brought with amniotic fluid embolism . On her entry she was talking fine and just in a minute or less without a wince she closed her eyes permanently . The amniotic fluid which acts as a shockabsorber for the baby had gone in minute amounts into her blood and caused her lungs to shutdown suddenly . Especially surrounded by the beginnings of life everywhere this was a stark contrast retrospectively thinking even now . Then i realised the helplessness of people in front of nature .
Now, the same labour room had other sights in store . Usually healthy women go into labour . But one of the beds had a severely breathless woman under direct care of the chief consultant . I asked my seniors what was the issue . Apparently she had severe heart disease which prohibited her from getting pregnant . But knowing fully well of the risks she became pregnant and was now fighting both the disease of heart and the fluid overload of pregnancy . A combination of her will , medical help and fate made her survive and deliver a healthy baby . I often think of her fighting much more stronger than any fight i have seen in action movies .
Non-doctors have their own assumed thoughts about how doctors conduct their daily work , but house surgeoncy showed that at least for we housesurgeons it was some work , some camaderie , some light moments and a few moments like the above which showed the value of life and the human spirit .
P.S : last but not the least one of my MBA cousins recently told quite seriously that doctors think of women in a perverse way always and when she told this my mind went back to the labour room and all the above scenarios . To be honest , me or my friends never used to look at any woman patient other than as a patient . But again to be honest we used to look at all the postgraduates of gynaecology posted there as they were the prettiest in our college at that time ... And one of them was a good singer and used to hum a song whenever she walked ...And i love music :)
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