Fetal Medical Unit

The lady who delivered the deformed fetus the night I was on call, came today complaining to Prof. Hassan Nasrat about the abortion laws in Saudi. The poor thing had to deliver two other fetuses with congenital anomalies whom were also incompatible with life. She was crying and showing him pictures of her dead baby. She asked for them to use this gift of science & knowledge to actually do something. The pregnancy should have been terminated & she shouldn't have had to carry those fetuses as long as she did. But of course the doctors didn't abort because our inhumane religious men told her and I quote: "at8y Allah ya o5ty hady nfs bshriah". Really? Well, they didn't look human and they died right after birth.

After she left, the Prof. said the laws are now looser but some doctors still don't feel comfortable using them. I thought our job as doctors was first to inflict no harm? I thought we should weigh the pros and cons and decide on the proper management? And how is it proper to lead a full term pregnancy with all it's known complications to the mother's body & psychological trauma, knowing that the out come is a dead baby?

And that is why I could never be an obstetrician. Too much ethical & so called religious shit.

First On Call

First On Call- The Can't Wait to Get Home & Sob edition. Or First On Call- The Bitter-sweet edition.

I'm sure you gathered that it was my first on call with the OB/GYN department and actually first ever! It was a true roller-coaster. From the genuine smiles to the kill-me-now-I-can't-look-the-patient's-family-in-the-eyes-moments.

The day started extra early -at 8 am. - because I'm lucky like that. Normal day routine till 4 then the shift begins. What happened?

1. An allegedly fully dilated pregnant lady who we wait 6 hours for her to deliver and she doesn't.
2. A lady who suddenly comes to the ER and delivers spontaneously. Her mother's worries during and joyful relief after. The dad's smile when he first knew about his son. All get to you. OB can be a real crowd pleaser.
3. And then it can be the complete opposite. When the woman whom's fetus was mal-positioned and so needed a C-section to then be delivered dead. When the woman's family asks you how it went and you go to find out and decide to disappear till the doctor tells them. When he does and their happy expecting faces turn dull. When you watch them go see the dead fetus. When you go see it yourself, an other wise normal baby but dead. When you fight the urge to sob. When you see the doctors going through every detail, trying to figure out what went wrong. When you see tears and utter pain in the eyes of the doctors. That's when OB totally sucks.
4. And it doesn't end there. Two of my friends who also witnessed the previous tragedy, witnessed another. Another C-section with a fetus incompatible with life. A fetus so deformed, I'm actually glad I didn't see. God be with those mothers and their families. And may they be granted healthy babies in the future who would live long and make them proud.
5. God sent us a reason to smile. This little boy Bander, who we met at the vending machines earlier, decides to break dance for us with his friend. And guess what they are actually good. They got a standing ovation from us.
6. There's a cat which lives in the hospital's cafeteria. Only comes out after hours.