FINALLY, i am here.

so after an airline strike and a great delay, i have arrived in cape town, south africa. it is just stunningly beautiful. i'll be posting pictures later to show everyone just how amazing it is.
today was my first day of clinical rotations and it was just more than i could have ever hoped it would be. i saw not one, but two(!) live births. medicine is so different here. it's so natural and not nearly as technological. the birthing process is just allowed to happen. c-sections are rare and i don't know if they even have epidurals. one mother was screaming bloody murder and the nurse simply goes, "lady, you need to shut that mouth and redirect it to your pushing, now let's go." the mother immediately simply shut her mouth and within seconds the head was crowning. the baby gets a quick wipe down and then is immediately laid on the mothers bare chest so that they can bond. it is not wisked away and weighed or fussed over. both babies came out screaming and quieted as soon as they were laid with their moms. it was truly an amazing experience. the maternity ward is all nurse run and they were excited to have an american nursing student there. everyone was just so nice.
i learned they treat premature birth quite different here. incubators are only for exetreme cases. most premies are prescribed the kangaroo mothering technique where they are kept in a sling like aparatus skin to skin with the mother for weeks. they are kept skin to skin with the mother under her clothes to create the perfect temperature and are allowed to simply feed and grow. they say the mothers milk changes to fit the needs of the premie.
we have a busy weekend planned but i will try to get to the internet later this week to update and hopefully to add pictures. until then!
aubry