Loss

Ironic that our last post was the "The Perfect Day," and now I am writing one entitled "Loss." This probably best exemplifies life for the Kenyan people. Although there is much sun and smiles here, life in a developing country is fragile. Loss is woven into the fabric of life for Kenyans.

My first call was Friday. I was called to the Operating Room for a woman who had presented at 35 weeks gestation with a baby in the breech presentation. She had been bleeding, but fetal heart tones were briefly auscultated at the time she arrived. The patient was being prepped for surgery when I got to the OR. The C-section was complicated because the baby was actually in a transverse lie (sideways) with an arm presentation. The baby was delivered lifeless and did not survive.

Was it the difficult delivery, the bleeding prior to her presentation to the hospital, or the fact that fetal heart tones were not continuously monitored that resulted in the lost? I will never know. In the States, if mom presents with a live fetus to the hospital, she usually leaves the hospital with a liveborn child. But not here in Africa. Fetal monitoring is not available and loss is unfortunately inevitable. I'm acutely aware that this will not be the last loss of a patient I will have while serving in Africa. I must find peace with the limited resources and put faith in God's plan. I ask for prayers for this patient and all the Kenyan people who have experienced loss.