Blog
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An Unconventional—and Unexpected—Delivery in Duk
April 11, 2011
It was an improvised, miraculous, and safe delivery, and today a mother is resting comfortably with her twin daughters and husband.
A Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago, a very pregnant young woman, Nyanwur, and her husband came into the Duk Lost Boys Clinic after coming nearly 30 miles from their village. Nyanwur was in labor and it was prolonging, prompting her family to make the journey to the Clinic in hope of the delivery care there, the only such services for a day’s walk. The Clinic’s midwife, Teresa, attended to her throughout the afternoon and into the evening. Her contractions were far apart and not progressing, a sign of trouble.
Finally, by 2am, having been up the night before attending to another delivery, Teresa and the Clinic team decided they needed to refer her to the State Hospital for surgery (a function for which the Clinic is not able to provide), which was six hours away by car. Teresa and a nurse, Kuol, quickly packed medical supplies, a travel bag, and $200 traveling money and drove to the hospital—a bumpy, 100-mile drive along dirt roads.An hour along the way, while it was still dark, the mother began to deliver and the driver pulled over to the side of the road. Using the dome light from the JDF vehicle as well as a pair of second-hand headlamps, Teresa (show in the picture above, next to the vehicle) and Kuol conducted the delivery—twins!
Soon after she delivered, Nyanwur fell unconscious due to the heavy blood loss. Kuol and Teresa worked hard to resuscitate her. The team tried to go to a nearby clinic, only to find that the staff wasn’t around and they lacked proper supplies. So the team continued to the hospital, arriving in the late morning.
Meanwhile, back at the Duk Lost Boys Clinic, the other staff waited for news of the events. An e-mail came from Kuol that afternoon. Despite severe anemia and blood loss, by the next morning the mother was doing well and speaking with Teresa. She’d be receiving a blood transfusion later that day. The team returned to the Clinic the next day, exhausted but relieved that their efforts paid off, saving the life of the mother and her children, who are still to be named. “This is our work,” Kuol, the nurse said after arriving back to the Clinic. Five years ago, before the Clinic was constructed, Nyanwur might have lost her life. Today, thanks to the generous continued support of people around the world contributing to the mission of the John Dau Foundation, her life is a lot different!
