In June of 1996, our doctor in San Sebastian Coatán, Guatemala was in the middle of a pickup soccer game, when he was interrupted by a panicked woman urging him to come help her daughter.
Upon arriving, the doctor found that the woman’s daughter was giving birth to a premature baby, which stopped breathing soon after his arrival. Immediately after the delivery, the mother began having a severe hemorrhage and asked her husband to fetch the clinic health promoter to send her the emergency pack containing the supplies for emergency delivery.
The husband darted from home, but returned shortly after, unable to find the clinic promoter. At this time, the mother had entered an advanced state of shock. So our doctor proceeded to undergo the manual extraction of the placenta, having no gloves and merely asking for soap and water to wash his hands.
He managed to get the placenta out, but the hemorrhage continued profusely. He calmly asked the husband to start massaging the mother’s abdomen to help him extract what remained of the placenta and amniotic membrane. These concerted actions caused the hemorrhage to subside and the mother to come to.
The family was grateful for the support and told neighbors of the attention it received at the time of this emergency. Though the baby was lost, this experience created a positive awareness of our presence in the community and the importance of having trained medical professionals on hand during deliveries.
We’re able to continue to serve mothers and children in need around the world because of support from people like you. Help provide clean, safe births for women in Latin America and Africa by making a donation today.
