Happy Birth Day Elsa Rose!
CONGRATULATIONS HEATHER AND AARON!
Archive for January, 2009
Noah’s Ark
I feel a little bit as if I have been working on Noah’s Ark. It seems as if all of the patients came in two by two this weekend. And delivered two by two. Had a nailbiting delivery last night. Patient pushed and pushed, then started having severe cramps in her thighs. We tried a heavy duty painkiller. Then called for a 2nd intrathecal. Unfortunately, there was an emergency bowel resection going on in the OR, so she had to wait until the nurse anesthetist was done with that case. Luckily, once she got her intrathecal, her leg pain went away. However, the baby just did not want to come out. The MD put on a vacuum 4 times before the baby’s head finally came out. What is scary about that, is that you wonder why the head isn’t coming out. Maybe it’s not meant to. I was nervous that we would get the head out, but the shoulders would get stuck. Which is a life threatening (to the baby) complication. Happily, once the head came out, the rest of the baby followed swiftly. A beautiful baby girl, who has one hell of a headache today. Unfortunately, the mother ended up with a 4th degree laceration (a tear into the anal sphincter). So, besides having to deal with monster body muscle aches, her bottom is going to be extremely sore. But in the end, she is happy to have her lovely daughter here, and safe in her arms. And really, that’s all that matters.
Wicked
So it’s been insanely busy at work this weekend. Delivery after delivery. More patients coming in. I now know what people were doing during the big snowstorm we had here last April. And let me tell you, they weren’t having a snowball fight. I ache from head to toe. I’m exhausted. And yet, I’m happy. I’m working with my great friend (and due date partner) Julie. The nursing supervisor is also great, and this is when I love my job. When I actually feel like I’m doing what I love to do. So, no complaints from me. Just big, big smiles.
Purely My Opinion
From CNN:
Commentary: When joy of pregnancy turns to heartbreak
- STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ann Veneman: In America, childbirth ends in joy for a very high number of families
- She says that’s not true around the world, particularly in parts of Asia and Africa
- Veneman: Often, deaths occur due to lack of basic medical care and supplies
- She says progress is being made, but more must be done to save lives
- Next Article in World »
By Ann M. Veneman
Special to CNN
Special to CNN
Editor’s note: Ann M. Veneman is the executive director of UNICEF and former U.S. agriculture secretary. Last week, UNICEF released its annual report on the State of the World’s Children 2009. To learn more about the report, visit www.unicef.org.
Ann Veneman says the lack of basic necessities makes pregnancy and childbirth fatal to millions.
NEW YORK (CNN) — Every day in the United States, thousands of women and families experience one of the most joyous occasions in their lifetime — the birth of a child.
That joy is certainly not as often the case in many parts of the world. Women in the least-developed countries are 300 times more likely to die in childbirth or from complications related to pregnancy than women in developed countries.
Half a million women die due to pregnancy or childbirth complications every year.
The lack of the most basic necessities such as a doctor, nurse, clean water, supplies or even a medical facility is robbing precious innocence and devastating families.
Such services are often sorely lacking in the poorest regions of the world, particularly in Africa and Asia, which account for the vast majority of all worldwide maternal and newborn deaths. Conflict, HIV and AIDS, migration and a lack of investment in public health services have made this devastating situation even worse.
In my travels to these regions, I have seen firsthand the impact of these challenges. It’s heartbreaking to hear how women have to walk miles while in labor to reach the nearest hospital, only to arrive finding that there are no doctors available or that the conditions are unsanitary. In many cases, both the mother and newborn lose their lives.
Don’t Miss
Unfortunately, stories like these are not uncommon. I recently visited Sierra Leone, the country with the highest rate of under-5 mortality in the world. One reason for this is that the vast majority of women do not breast-feed their children.
The women I talk with say it is custom to feed their children rice water. This provides little nutritional value and leaves children susceptible to disease and death. However, it is illustrative of the challenges we face in reducing child mortality rates.
Educating women, particularly young girls, about critical health issues is a priority for UNICEF. The younger a girl is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the health risks for her and her baby.
Other factors such as sexual violence and other gender-related abuses pose tremendous challenges and increase the risk that adolescent girls will drop out of school. This, in turn, entrenches the vicious cycle of gender discrimination, poverty and high rates of maternal and neonatal death.
A child born in Sierra Leone has more than an one in four chance of not living to see his or her first birthday. That country also has the worst record for prenatal care.
Regular immunizations, vitamins, rehydration for children suffering from diarrhea and the use of bed nets to protect from malarial mosquitoes are simple and effective ways of keeping women and children alive.
Though the challenges to reach the most vulnerable are high, we are seeing important progress made through international support. However, more can and must be done.
Through proven interventions at key stages in life and pregnancy, millions of women and children can be saved each year. We know that the vast majority of maternal deaths are preventable when women have access to essential maternity and basic health-care services.
The most vital need is for more skilled professionals and medical facilities throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatal care.
UNICEF continues to work with other international agencies to bring more resources to accelerate progress. These efforts are designed to reduce these deaths, and we are seeing some remarkable improvements.
In 2007, while I was in Ethiopia helping open a clean water processing facility, a woman stood up and told me her story. Every day, she would spend up to 10 hours in search of clean water to ensure her children could drink and eat.
With clean water now in her community, she can focus on keeping her children healthy and ensuring they are receiving a good education.
She knows, like so many women around the world in her situation, that the key to ending this suffering is through greater education, awareness and resources to help improve the lives and care of women and children. By doing so, we can significantly reduce and eventually end this horrific loss of life.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of Ann Veneman.
And yet women continue to birth at home with or without attendants, because “that’s the way it’s been done for centuries”. Let us not forget that women and children died regularly when this was the practice.
Why Do We Care?
I saw a commercial today for a tv show that covered the eldest Duggar’s wedding. Why in the world do we care? Just because these people have 18 kids? For some reason, these people bug me.
The Truth
Jeff Foxworthy on Minnesota :
If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through
18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you’re proud that your state makes the national news 96 nights
each year because International Falls is the coldest spot in the nation,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you have ever refused to buy something because it’s “too spendy”,
You might live in Minnesota.
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March,
You might live in Minnesota.
If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don’t work there,
You might live in Minnesota.
If your dad’s suntan stops at a line curving around the
middle of his forehead,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time,
You might live in Minnesota.
If your town has an equal number of bars and churches,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you know how to say….Wayzata…Mahtomedi … Cloquet
Edina… and Shakopee,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you think that ketchup is a little too spicy,
You might live in Minnesota.
If vacation means going “up north” for the weekend,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you measure distance in hours,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you know several people, who have hit deer more than once,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you often switch from “Heat” to “A/C” in the same day and back again,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you can drive 65 mph through
2 feet of snow
during a raging blizzard without flinching,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you see people wearing hunting clothes at social events,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you install security lights on your house and garage and
leave both unlocked,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you think of the major food groups as beer, fish, and Venison,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you carry jumper cables in your car, and your girlfriend knows
how to use them,
You might live in Minnesota.
If There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at Mill’s Fleet Farm
at any given time,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you design your kid’s Halloween
costume to fit over a
snowsuit,
You might live in Minnesota.
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter,
and of course, road construction,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you can identify a
southern or eastern accent,
You might live in Minnesota.
If your idea of creative landscaping is a plastic deer next
to your blue spruce,
You might live in Minnesota.
If “Down South” to you means Iowa,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you know “a brat” is something
you eat,
You might live in Minnesota.
If you find -10 degrees “a little chilly”,
You might
live in Minnesota.
The sad thing……most of these things are absolutely true!
Baby It’s Cold Outside
Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s freezing outside! I guess right now it’s about -20 degrees outside with windchills to -40. Bundle up Minnesotans!
Awake on the Night Shift 