I often get called on to help with medical issues for the local Haitian and Dominican population. This is usually for medecine for stomach pains, or cleaning up cuts and burns. Sometimes taking blood pressure, or giving injections. If it is anything more than that I try and take them to the local public hospital.
Two days ago, a Haitian lady asked me to go to her little barrio - like 30 huts - just a minutes walk from my house as there was someone giving birth. I do puppies and kittens but not humans! So I asked a friend who has had a baby - which is more than I have - to give me a hand. They did not have the money to go to the local hospital, who would have done a caesarian and charged for that, plus the stitches, nor did she want to go, as she only spoke patois.
I will not bore you with all the gory details nor the strange habits, such as tying a bandage under the breasts to make the baby move down(!!), but suffice it to say she had a bouncing baby girl, on a piece of cardboard on the floor of her hut, now called after my friend who actually delivered her! Mother and baby are fine. I did the important work of translating and shouting pousse!! (push in patois!)
However my husband (dominican) said we should not have helped as had anything happened to the mother or baby we would have been imprisoned as we are not licensed doctors.
So, what would you have done? Helped as we did or walk away? And am now sure we will be called on to do it again.
I should point out that a doctor in the local private clinic some 5 minutes away refused to help, and also there was no transport available to take her to the public hospital.
Matilda
Two days ago, a Haitian lady asked me to go to her little barrio - like 30 huts - just a minutes walk from my house as there was someone giving birth. I do puppies and kittens but not humans! So I asked a friend who has had a baby - which is more than I have - to give me a hand. They did not have the money to go to the local hospital, who would have done a caesarian and charged for that, plus the stitches, nor did she want to go, as she only spoke patois.
I will not bore you with all the gory details nor the strange habits, such as tying a bandage under the breasts to make the baby move down(!!), but suffice it to say she had a bouncing baby girl, on a piece of cardboard on the floor of her hut, now called after my friend who actually delivered her! Mother and baby are fine. I did the important work of translating and shouting pousse!! (push in patois!)
However my husband (dominican) said we should not have helped as had anything happened to the mother or baby we would have been imprisoned as we are not licensed doctors.
So, what would you have done? Helped as we did or walk away? And am now sure we will be called on to do it again.
I should point out that a doctor in the local private clinic some 5 minutes away refused to help, and also there was no transport available to take her to the public hospital.
Matilda