A medEvac request from Marawaka in the Obura-Wonenara District of Eastern Highlands Province on Saturday (May 1st 2021), lead us all the way to a 39 year old, first-time mum.
Being married for 14 years, it was always her dream to be a mother. Jency Abraham's joyful moment to be with the love she has been expecting, however, came with the difficulty of retained placenta.
From Waukou Village, Jency delivered a live male infant on Friday 30th April, 2021, at Marawaka Health Centre. According to Jency’s mother, Russi, her daughter delivered the baby unattended. “There was no health worker available to deliver the baby, and Jency was assisted by her own relatives inside the ward,” Russi said.
In Jency’s patient referral form from the Health Centre, it was noted that she looked too weak and was unable to sit and stand because of the placenta retained. For reasons unknown, Russi said the Health workers arrived later but could not remove the placenta, and requested for the medEvac.
Thanks to the funding support from the Obura-Wonenara DDA and local MP Mehrra Kipefa, Manolos was able to evacuate the mother to Lae for possible blood transfusion and the safe removal of the placenta.
An update from nurses on Sunday, May 02nd, 2021, revealed that the mother was admitted to the gynaecology ward, after the placenta was removed at accident and emergency on the day of arrival in Lae (Saturday May 01st 2021). Her baby boy weighed 2.6kg and was admitted to the special care nursery.
It is no rocket science to understand that patient follow ups are important for especially the flying nurses. The flying nurses in Lae always do patient follow ups at Angau Hospital, especially for the patients that are evacuated from the rural health facilities and villages.
This is purposely to see the progress of the patient, whether they've recovered and discharged, or are advised by their doctors to stay a bit longer. This is so the nurses are convinced that the patient is well, and they also need to complete a patient record form from the company, which records all information of the patient from the time of medEvac request to discharge at the referral hospital.
Truth be told, sometimes it's not a happy day for the medEvac team doing follow ups.
On Tuesday (May 04th 2021) while checking on the progress of Jency, the nurses learned that her baby boy passed away on Monday (May 03rd 2021) at the special care nursery. Death was due to possible neonatal sepsis.
The team was saddened as they were touched by Jency's story to finally be a mother.
At the gynaecology ward, Jency (pictured right) showed silent emotions. Her mother Russi, (pictured left) was so vibrant and still full of hope for her eldest daughter.
The nurses left Jency some clothes donated by the public, and also a DFG Kit donated by Day's for Girls.
She said to bury her baby boy in Lae before finding possible ways to go back to Marawaka in Eastern Highlands.
For Mama MedEvacs, a challenge is that, it’s not always the mother who is the most affected, and nursing care equally provided for both mother and baby is paramount.
While this particular medEvac taught us the importance of our patient follow-ups, we’ve also introduced processes that involve the full checks for newborns before we transfer them along with the mother to Angau Hospital.
We only hope for the better.
R.I.P little boy; you’ll forever be our angel in Lae.
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