The ObGyn team that was here over the week hit the ground running. The team included 3 nurses (Nancy, Vicky, Diana) and one doctor (Dr. Vill) and one administrator (Bernadette). There is an overwhelming need for ObGyn care here and the team had their hands full. Vicki and Diana traveled out to some of the rural villages and provided PAP smears for women there. Nancy worked in Labor and Delivery, and Dr. Vill used a portable ultrasound machine to evaluate prenatal patients and anything else that came her way. Bernadette provided valuable organization and took care of the inevitable paperwork that accompanies patient care.

A few examples of what the team saw: a patient came to Dr. Vill because she had fibroids and wanted an ultrasound. Dr. Vill saw the fibroids, but also found a fetal heart beating at 150 beats per minute! The woman was 17 weeks pregnant and had no idea. Another woman who was 34 weeks pregnant came in to the emergency room with eclampsia, a potentially fatal condition that includes high blood pressure and seizures. Thanks to Dr. Vill’s evaluation, the woman received an immediate c-section which most likely saved her life. In the labor and delivery room, a woman was bleeding profusely after she gave birth, and no one took notice. Luckily Nancy and Dr. Vill were there to diagnose a post-partum bleed and sewed the patient up.

Photos: Dr. Vill doing an ultrasound (top); Patients in line at Southern Regional Hospital, Dangriga -- Bernadette is sitting at the desk organizing the chaos (center); Patients waiting to be seen at the health clinic in Independence (bottom).

--Tina