On my Way to Egypt: A Sad Goodbye and a New Adventure

I am leaving tomorrow night (Friday) for Cairo, where I will catch a bus over to Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula for 10 days of scuba diving and sight-seeing.

It is always weird to say goodbye for me when I have been living/traveling in another country: I cannot say for sure I will not come back, and always hope I will. When I travel, I know that I will eventually leave the incredible friends I meet, and while it doesn't make me hold back from creating lasting friendships, it does make me appreciate the ability to connect with people across the world, and know that immeasurable friendships and experiences are stronger than measurable distances.

I've learned far more from this experience than i anticipated, and am looking forward to the process of uncovering the myriad ways in which my time here has influenced me as a person and in terms of my perspective on maternal health. Much love to Ghana and all of my friends here! I'll post lots of pictures as soon as I get to a place with stable, high-speed Internet.


Now, onto Egypt, where I promise to continue blogging on my undersea, camel, Cairo, and Mt. Sinai adventures.

One more thing: My amazing sister Kelsyn is now in South Korea on a Fulbright teaching scholarship, and has a stellar blog. Check it out at kelsyn.blogspot.com

The Midwives in Our Lives: Much love to Auntie Lydia and Auntie Mary

Today is the last day of work. I simply can’t believe it. The past three months have absolutely flown by, filled with wonder, excitement, generosity, courage and struggle.

Just last Monday Ember (the med student in our group, an amazing girl who got her master’s in public health at Emory University) and I received IRB permission to being a second study on nurse-midwives here at Komfo Anokye. Through our conversations with our own two interpreter midwives we had come to learn of some major themes: the struggle to provide adequate care to their patients despite extreme over-crowding, lack of equipment, and understaffing of midwives due to the brain drain as the younger ones “leave for greener pastures.” Along with covering a number of other topics, we’ve so far conducted 6 interviews and hope to reach at last ten in the next two days before we leave.

I am soo thankful for doing this second study: listening to the stories of these midwives – many nearing or already hitting retirement – has been a much needed inspiration here when sometimes the weight of the intensity of the hospital can feel so overwhelming.

The real inspiration for this study has come from the time we have had getting to know our two amazing, brilliant, compassionate midwife-interpreters for our project, Auntie Mary and Auntie Lydia. They have been so patient in answering our endless questions about pregnancy and caring for and delivering their patients. Most of all, they represent the spirit of midwifery to an extent that has made me seriously consider the profession.

Auntie Mary recently retired from Komfo Anokye where she was the head midwife-in-charge for the antenatal ward. However, she has continued to supplement her income by working night shifts at a maternity ward. So she comes to our hospital to interpret for us from about 10 am to 2-3 pm, and then goes home to sleep before working from 8pm to 8am at the maternity ward. Auntie Lydia – at 65 years of age – is still working at Komfo Anokye on the official ward (“VIP ward) where she follows her patients from antenatal, through delivery and then postnatal care. She comes to work for us the same time as Auntie Mary (around 10am), and then begins her shift from 2pm to about 8pm or later.

Every day these women come to work with more energy than I can muster at less than half their age, ready to assist their patients as best they can under the conditions they are given. When asked about how they handle the lack of proper compensation for their time and effort, they – and all the midwives we interview – insist that to be a midwife is to dedicate oneself to one’s country and the women who make it. They truly love their profession, and despite the endless hours would do nothing else and would not change their choice to stay in Ghana for anything.

It seems this point of view has largely been lost (according to them) on the younger generation, who concern themselves first with making the income they want to allow them to buy the material objects they feel are necessary to live well, and adjust their job location accordingly. I wonder if this is the same with my generation in the states. It certainly is true that my age group and those below me are concerned with being able to provide themselves with the material goods and comforts that our parents have and more. Being ofmr the states, this has les to do with looking for jobs out of our country and more to do with the type of job one chooses. For instance, it is clear wqith the major lack of incoming professional teachers and nurses in the States that money comes first over a civic duty for our country.

Sometimes I worry that my choice to focus on health behaviour and health education in my master’s program is a mistake, since it is in many respects like an international social worker degree, that to say, one that does not exactly bring with it a substantial income. And sometimes – rarely but sometimes – I question my choice of this path. But after listening to the stories of these courageous midwives here, I am reinvigorated with a passion for striving to provide every woman and newborn with a safe passage through pregnancy and birth. I am so inspired to do more, to not just be able to recite statistics on maternal health and authors recommending how to scale up the health care system, but actually have the knowledge of how to help a woman deliver safely and with dignity.

The midwives in our lives – often over-looked and under-appreciated – are an inspirational force in the maternal health community and deserve the utmost respect for the love they show for their work and their patients.

Thank you Auntie Lydia and Auntie Mary, and everyone else for reminding me of why I chose to become involved with maternal health, and how each one of us does in fact have the potential to change the lives of mothers and in doing so – the world.