Day Eleven:

Labor and Delivery Crew: Schmizing

On our last day official day of service and education, our team went to the regional hospital outside of Managua. We had all been looking forward to this for some time. It was such an experience to see the emergency room, labor and delivery, and the operating room. Although we had expected to be saddened and alarmed by what we saw, the procedures and standards, or lack thereof, were shocking. The lack of sterilization techniques, the reuse of supplies until they are no longer operational, and the overwhelming feeling of the “wild west," coming to the hospital in Managua is light years different than coming to a hospital in suburban America.

The things we saw today will most likely stay with us for a lifetime. While I will not go into details about the individual cases, I would feel very confident that if these same people walked into an American hospital the treatment they received and the outcomes would hopefully be much different.  We witnessed an appendectomy, a mastectomy, a cesarean section, and a live birth.  Watching the live birth without a doubt left the greatest impact on us all.

Happy Birthday Nubia! We miss you.

So, as we go into our final full day in Nicaragua, we all have begun to reflect on the impact this trip has had on our lives and our futures. While we have certainly helped people in such dire need, it is also important that we incorporate what we have learned into our daily lives though meaningful changes.

Tomorrow we will be spending some time playing in Nicaragua hitting up some tourist attractions. Nicaragua is certainly a very scenic country with many natural treasures. So after seeing how underfunded the hospital network here is hopefully the Nicaraguan government will capitalize on these resources and create a more vibrant tourism economy.