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| Maria |
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| Jeany |
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| Sylvia |
My last day at Maternidade Nascer Cidadao began as every
other day does: I woke up and got dressed, ate breakfast with my host parents
Tiana and Carlos Roberto, and then Tiana drove me to the hospital. But today,
on the way there, we stopped at her cousin Claudia’s home to pick up some
cupcakes that she made for me to take with me to the hospital for my last day.
When I arrived at the hospital, I changed into my scrubs and the nurses gave me
an update about the three patients we had. I was assigned to accompany one
woman, twenty-three-year-old Patricia, through labor. She was laboring very
well and progressing quickly but by noon, she and her mother were both very
anxious to know when baby Isadora would be born. At eight centimeters and in
lot of pain, it was very difficult to reason with Patricia that no one knew
exactly what time her baby would arrive. Though she and the baby were both
perfectly normal under the circumstances, Patricia and her mother both began to
ask for the doctor or a nurse every time a contraction arrived. Then when
Patricia’s husband arrived as well, he was so anxious that he yelled at me (all
in Portuguese even after I explained to him that I needed him to speak slowly
for me to understand him). Finally, after a slow and frustrating afternoon, I
helped deliver Patricia’s healthy baby girl around 5:00 PM. However, 5:00 PM
became the time for everyone to have their babies! At that time, we had three
other patients besides Patricia and two of them also delivered. One had her
baby minutes before while another had her baby minutes after! All in all, it
was a very exciting last day which lasted almost eleven hours at the hospital.
When I said my goodbyes, it was harder than I expected because I made so many
wonderful friends in my first month here. Everyone has welcomed me with open
arms and much patience. I have learned so much about obstetric medicine and
Brazilian culture. And, everyone loved the cupcakes!
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| Karlla and Luciana |
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| Interns Paulo and Rodolfo |
In total at Maternidade Nascer Cidadao:
25 births (I
assisted in 5 of 25)
4 Cesarean sections
21 Natural births
1 Tubal Ligation
Too many baths to
count
Countless friends
and memories
Much better Portuguese
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| Mom Patricia and Grandma are so happy to finally meet Isadora! |
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| Baby Isadora and I after her delivery |
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| My host sisters and I dressed in black and orange, the colors of Medicina |
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After my last day, tonight we attended the opening of Inter
UFG, an intra-collegiate music/sports tournament held by the Universitario
Federal de Goias (UFG; in this case intra-collegiate means between the
different departments of UFG). The opening night, beginning around 11:00 PM
consists of a percussion competition. Each department of UFG has their own
percussion ensemble and each ensemble prepares an eight to twelve minute long
presentation. The Medicina Department’s band is called Madrasta and it is the
largest ensemble of all the departments. It has ninety people while the others
generally have about forty-five. Each band played for the judges with the crowd
all standing around them, everyone waiting for his department to play to
squeeze to the front of the crowd so it was possible to see the action because
the ensembles usually prepared some cool dance steps with their beats as well.
Since Madrasta was thirteenth of fourteen, while we were waiting, at about 1:00
AM, I learned how to dance Samba as many of the bands use Samba rhythms. For
those of you that know how coordinated I am, I am sure you can picture how
funny this was for everyone watching! I am terrible, but it was fun to learn
and attempt to dance like all the Brazilians. When Madrasta played at nearly 3:00
AM, my friends and I finally made it to the front of the crowd and were able to
see the band play and do their dance steps expertly. Standing so closely, you
could literally feel the beats of the drums through your body! It was so loud!
And, the best part was that Madrasta won, kicking off Inter UFG with a surge of
energy for Medicina.
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| My dance teachers! :) |
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| Madrasta has forty tambourine players |
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| The great dance moves that accompanied Madrasta's performance |
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| At the end of the song, the players lined up to bow for the judges. |
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| Celebrating the end of the song and a lot of hard work |
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| Wearing the Madrasta hats while waiting for the results |
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| At the end of the competition, we had to run back to the car in the rain! It was pouring which is strange because the weather is usually very dry at this time of year. |
