C/Section for Beginners

Our time in Papua New Guinea has offered many “firsts”. This past week I had the opportunity of assisting Scot in a c/section delivery. This was a “first” for me. It was a wonderful experience to be on the front line with Scot during a surgery. The woman that was operated on had given birth to the first of twins by vaginal delivery; however, the second baby was foot first and needed to be delivered by c/section.  I had mentioned to Scot prior to this that I was interested in assisting him on a surgery. He called the house in the afternoon and told me to get up to the hospital quickly.

Upon arriving at the surgical suite, I put on scrubs, shoe covers, a mask and a head covering. Then Scot showed me how to wash my hands and arms. We went into the surgery room and the patient was lying on the table with a spinal anesthetic. The scrub tech helped us gown and glove.

Next, we placed sterile drapes on the patient, and then Scot asked her name and a prayer was said for her and her baby. After this, he used an electric scalpel for the incision. It wasn’t working very well, so he asked for a regular scalpel. My job was to sponge and wipe the blood away. After he cut through the layers to the uterus, I had to hold the edges on the incision open wide and use a suction to remove pooling blood.

The uterus was opened. The baby was delivered and the cord cut. The baby was then transferred to the “baby catcher”, a nurse from D Ward. She took the baby and left for the nursery. I continued suctioning blood out of the way as Scot cleared the incision site of clots. Scot reached into the uterus and pulled out the placenta. It was huge because there were twins. When everything looked clean, I held the uterus out of the way and he began suturing. (The uterus was hard and about the size of a small cantaloupe.) There were three layers of tissue and lining that he sutured together to close the uterus. Once that was completed he pushed the uterus back in place and closed the peritoneum and fascia. After that, I was allowed to staple the skin closed and dress the wound. 

It was all very interesting and I would be happy to assist Scot again. I didn’t faint or vomit. (I think Scot expected me to.) I found it to be a very interesting and an amazing experience. I had two c/sections of my own and found being on this side of the table preferable.

Tyronza

PS. Yes, the count for sponges and instruments was done.

PS 2. Both babies were “pikinini mons”, baby boys.

PS 3. Thank you, Scot for assisting with medical terminology.