Does your Husband Travel? – Day 3 at Yarinacocha Hospital

That’s right. It’s a very VERY important part of the medical history here. If your husband travels, your chart is marked with a POSITIVO in red pen. Negativo if he does not travel. What it means is that you have a much higher risk of STDs and it is their way of finding out about it. Sneaky and hilarious!!!

Today was a slow morning, but I work tonight from 7pm until 1 in the afternoon tomorrow so I will make it short. My schedule is a rotation of Manana, tarde, noche, manana, tarde, noche. That doesn’t sound so bad until you realize that EVERY day is a manana day. For example, I work every single morning Monday through Sunday from 7am to 1pm. In addition to that I work a rotation of 1pm to 7pm one day, next day 7pm to 7am, etc … So, Monday = 7am to 1pm. Tuesday = 7a-7p, Wed = 7am-1pm and then 7pm – 7am, Thurs 7am-1pm, Fri = 7am – 1pm, etc. I don’t know if I can do it and be so immersed in new culture and language…

I had a nice conversation with a midwife today who tells me that just like in the US, midwives here are trying to improve the conditions of birth for mamas. She says that there is a struggle between doctors, nurses and midwives around what positions women can and should deliver in, what happens with their baby immediately after birth, etc. She says that some midwives don’t hang the baby upside down to cut the cord, there are some that attempt to immediately pass baby to mom after delivery but they receive lots of resistance to this from nurses.

I can’t eat all the rice that the cafeteria gives me at each meal so my leftovers along with chicken bones go to the dog that lives on campus with us, Josephina or Roberta (she has two names), the mascot they call her. She gets really excited to see us.

The midwife interns are teaching me all the local slang. It’s reallllllly fun! And also really hard. I’m so exhausted just from attempting to understand and learn, let alone work so much. Woooooh!

Headed to sleep for a few hours if I can.

Found a place to wash my hands and see that some others wash their hands sometimes too!

Beth