Diary of A Whitecoat Wannabe: Episode 1

Dear diary,

 This is my third try at writing this post and it had better be my last. Somehow, I feel I'm getting a bit rusty with this writing thing. I've been home all day trying to betray blogger and move to wordpress. Apparently google is serving a living God and I can't seem to understand the wordpress site I am working on. Well... there is still time to learn.

So far I have watched four caesarean sections, one manual vacuum aspiration and one delivery and I am bored. I expected so much more from this Obstetrics and Gynaecology posting. My colleagues in other groups have seen more drama in one day than I have in the past two weeks. Each time I hear a new interesting story, I want to weep. Still, I have to tell you something. The manual vacuum aspiration (MVA
= evacuating a pregnant uterus) for me has been the weirdest experience so far. You know how abortion is illegal in this country? Apparently, all you have to do to get a safe and legal one is to try the illegal one and get complications. Maybe that is not the best advice, but...there you are. It is the only way they will attend to you in a teaching hospital (do not quote me...i repeat...DO NOT QUOTE ME!)

How did I get to watch one? It was the first time I was on call. I was hungry and late af and all I wanted to do was make sure a doctor in my team saw me, before I could disappear and get something into my stomach. The plan was supposed to work, but when I walked into the procedure room  that evening and saw the doctors gathered around a woman's open legs, I decided to take a peek and learn what I could. While I stood by the dozing woman (she had been sedated), I watched as one of the doctors put this LARGE syringe in the woman's vagina and sucked out the contents of her uterus. I could have just said 'blood' but it was more than that. Calling what I saw body parts would be going too far too, since I half expected to see a detached finger fall out of the woman's privates and got disappointed. All I know is that it was somewhere between blood and body parts. While I watched, my mind went wild as usual and I kept thinking: What if she had kept it? What if the man responsible for the baby had insisted on raising it. What if she had brought him/her/it to the world? Would it have been better?

I had always supported the stand that the Catholic Church took against abortion, but at that moment, I began to understand it. It felt like every single individual in that room deserved to be bundled and thrown in jail. We had commited murder of some sort. We had all contributed to the removal of what could have become the next President or Robin-hood. All in all, We did not give that baby a chance to have an identity.

Don't panic, we are not murderers. The baby was already dead before the woman came to us. Still I want you to picture this scenario. What if the mother had given her baby a chance to survive when she was not ready to be her child's first love? What if she had let him come into this harsh world when she could not afford to raise him or even herself, and his father had no plans of bring his life to a halt for him? What if she had taken a crazy leap? Is it really the best choice? Is it right that women are forced by tradition and religion to be mothers before they are ready? Before you read me the abstinence liturgy (which i fully support) or even the 'use a condom' mantra that keeps ringing like a broken record, you should know that everyone makes mistakes. Not everything is planned. Not every encounter, not every rendezvous and an innocent child should not be made to bear the brunt of his parents' crime (I know I'm contradicting myself). There is also the case of rape which has become a norm in today's society. Girls no longer see the need to talk since all they end up with is shame and no action is taken on the rapist... Should they be forced to carry such a baby too? Is society being fair? I should probably stop here before I open the floodgates of my take on rape and never stop talking. Maybe another day...on another blog...

Anyways, back to my MVA experience (and away from all the serious talk), there was no light and we literally had to do the procedure with a rechargable lamp. Surprised? Don't be. This is Nigeria. Look how we living now...(did i tell you that I met Falz the love of my life? Haha! The experience was lit!)

Guess who did not falter despite the bloody scene? Me!!! Maybe I will be a vampire in my next life. I seem to have a thing for blood now. I am beginning to creep me out.

I have to go  back to my wordpress now. Bye!

PS: I have a feeling that google will close my blogger account after this. It's like using an iphone and trying to download samsung apps. Treachery!

I will be back.

Yours truly,
Rita.

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