Babies and Mud

Here’s a story I’ll remember the rest of my life.

Goodluck and I were supervising and training health staff on data collection and analysis this past Tuesday. At our second stop (we planned to visit four facilities) we picked up a 15-year-old pregnant girl who needed to be transferred to the district hospital because, being so young, she was at risk for complications during birth. Two nurses from the local facility joined us as well as the 15 year old father-to-be.

The plan was to finish our supervisions and deliver the woman to the district hospital to give birth to her coming child. I didn’t even ask how far along she was in the labor process before we got into the car because she was walking around normally, no one helping her, no urgency…

A quick aside: The short rainy season started in Tanzania around two weeks ago (the long one is typically April to June). Along with transforming the rural area from desert to lush countryside, it has transformed dusty roads to mud roads.

Soon after we left, our Land Cruiser got stuck in the mud, twice. You know if a Land Cruiser gets stuck, it’s legit mud. It took an hour to dig the car out the first time. The second time we got stuck, things got a little bit interesting.

The right half of the car slipped into an existing ditch leaving the car at a 30 degree tilt off center. After a few attempts at driving the car out of the ditch one of the nurses mentioned something to Goodluck and he motioned for me to get out of the car with him. I assumed that it was to start digging the car out again but after exiting, Goodluck told me the girl was going to deliver the baby now, in the back of the car.

Fortunately, she was in good hands with the two nurses but it was still important that we get the car out so that we could be close to a health facility when the baby arrived in case of complications. So while the nurses, father, and mother were in the back delivering a baby, Goodluck, our driver, and I were trying to dig us out of the mud.

30 minutes and multiple attempts to free the car later the car was still stuck but the baby had arrived! Can you imagine (a) giving birth in the back of a car (b) while the car was on a 30 degree tilt and (c) while it was continuously being jostled back and forth by people trying to free the car from mud?

It took us another hour to get the car out but we were finally able to deliver the new mother and baby to a facility and get them some additional medical attention. Thankfully, both baby boy and mother made it through safe and healthy.

The most striking aspect of the whole day?

I never heard the mother make a sound during the entire process. No screams, no moans, no whimpers, not even strained breathing. It was one of the most amazing displays of toughness I’ve ever seen.

I’ll get up some video footage I took on Monday.