Prayer Request for Jane

We are asking for all of your prayers to help a patient whom we will call "Jane". Jane was brought to Tenwek Hospital in mid September after laboring at home for days. This was her first pregnancy and the baby just wouldn't come vaginally. By the time she was brought to the hospital, the baby had already died. Jane was infected after having such a long labor. She had a cesarean section. Unfortunately, losing her baby was only the beginning of Jane's tragic story.

Despite antibiotics, she continued to have fevers (which Kenyans describe as "hotness of body") and her wound began to drain pus. In exploring her wound at the bedside, the infection had also caused her fascia to open - which meant that her abdominal cavity was now open. Jane was taken to the Operating Theatre (now her second surgery) to open her incision completely and debride all of the infected edges. Over the next three weeks she was taken back to the operating room two more times in order to wash out her abdomen and debride additional infected tissue. She currently is afebrile and we are packing her wound. We are hoping to avoid a hysterectomy given that she has no live born children.

Jane also is suffering from foot drop and likely a vesico-vaginal fistula which is causing her to leak urine. Both of these complications are caused from the baby's head being impacted in the birth canal and pushing the mother's tissues against her pelvic bones. After days of this pressure, there can be nerve damage which is causing Jane's foot drop. Also, the bladder gets damaged which causes a hole or fistula to develop between the bladder and vagina or even between the rectum and vagina.

Jane still has a long road ahead of physical and emotional healing. Please pray for her. We have treated her with medicines and surgery as best as we can. Now we are hoping prayers will help heal her. Please also pray for the many women like her - women who do not have medical care readily available and labor for days without alternative options. What we are witnessing here in Kenya continues to affirm what we have always believed - birth is a miracle.