May 14, 2013: Day 7 at Maternidade Nascer Cidadao

Today the number of births I have seen at Maternidade Nascer Cidadao rose to twelve. The best part is that for the twelfth, I helped catch the baby as he was born after remaining with his mother as a doula for the majority of her labor. On Saturday, I took a class at the hospital for doulas (women who assist other women during labor, helping ease pain, promote productive breathing, and provide communication for the patient to the doctors and nurses). I was grateful that today I could test what I learned. It is very difficult since I only know how to say a few things in Portuguese that have to do with labor! Overall, it was an 
excellent experience, even though it kept me at the
hospital for almost twelve hours.

 One of the directors of Maternidade Nascer Cidadao spoke at the doula class on Saturday regarding the purpose of having doulas during the birthing process.

I made some new friends at the doula class.

I also will mention the crazy sandwich I had for dinner tonight because it is very popular in Goiania. It was called X-Tudo. It is a thick bun that has a piece of hamburger with bacon, sausage, corn, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and potato sticks on it. I have no idea how I even fit it in my mouth, but it was so delicious!!

Finally, after dinner I met some more of my host family's extended family. Tonight I met my host mother's side of the family after meeting my host father's side of the family over the weekend. Both halves of the family are lovely and so welcoming. Also, there are so many of them that I fit right in.

    

 This is the X-Tudo that I tackled!