NEWS 5
ausdoc . com . au 11 OCTOBER 2024
NEWS 5
1 January 2001 Dr Ushma Narsai
Johannesburg , South Africa
IT was New Year ’ s Day 2001 . I was a proud graduate of the previous year , working as an intern and about to start my first-ever surgical rotation .
Bright-eyed and eager as a beaver at 7am , I was in the ED of the third-largest hospital in the world . It felt like my life was just starting , and boy , was I excited . I stood there with my fellow junior doctors waiting for the surgical consultant to emerge and congratulate us on our wonderful achievement .
Resplendent in our sparkling white coats , dangling our new stethoscopes , with our pockets crammed with pens and notepads , we were going to be amazing .
Suddenly , there was a hush as a huge , imposing man strode in and glared at us as though we were needlessly taking up space .
The consultant said our first day was going to break us and make us cry and wish we had never decided to do medicine .
1988 Dr Warwick Carter
Brisbane , Queensland
IT was 7am when I walked into the surgery one day in 1988 and turned off the overnight answering machine . Thirty seconds later , the phone rang . “ She is having it in the bed . Come quickly ,” said a panicked voice . “ Who are you , and what is happening ?” I asked . “ It is Mr W , and she is having the baby now !” The name was familiar . I usually confined 30 or so of my birthing mothers every year in a nearby cottage hospital . One of them was obviously coming a bit earlier and faster than expected .
To be clear , in the UK , I had regularly undertaken home delivery of babies , but they had flying squads that could come to your assistance if something went wrong .
In Australia , there was no such service — you were it !
Hoping for the best , I grabbed my ‘ panic bag ’, ran out of the surgery and drove swiftly to the W residence , where their eldest child greeted me at the door .
Trotting through the entry hall , I heard the reassuring sound of a baby crying .
In the bedroom , Mrs W was lying back in the centre of a king-size bed , seemingly fine .
The baby , a pink little boy with the cord still attached to his mother , was lying on a bloodstained towel between her legs , screaming his head off .
As for Mr W , he was standing beside the bed looking both worried and relieved at my arrival . Their three-year-old daughter was looking on in wonder .
Clearly , it was time for the doctor to bring order to chaos , to reassure , to take charge , to exude an air of confidence .
Losing my balance , I rolled , in an ungainly manner , right into the centre to join the new baby between the mother ’ s legs .
Adjusting my suit coat , I walked calmly into the room .
Turning my bedside charm up to maximum ,
I told Mrs W that everything would be fine . Then I sat down on the bed . The vast piece of furniture turned out to be a waterbed , and I found myself sitting so far into this waterbed that my backside completely missed the edge board .
So I sank , completely losing my balance and rolling in an ungainly manner right into the centre to join the new baby between the mother ’ s legs .
The effect was anything but the one I was trying to project . Mr W did not know whether to laugh or apologise , so he just choked quietly while waiting for my next trick . Mrs W started laughing hysterically . Extracting myself with dignity was impossible . I floundered for quite some time until I reached the edge of the bed and could struggle to my feet . But Mrs W , of course , was still in the centre and out of reach .
The solution came in a flash : the sheet was untucked — firmly grasped at one side and Mrs W , baby , towel and mess were all hauled towards me .
Some semblance of normality returned as I cut the cord , wrapped baby in a blanket and passed him to Mr W for safekeeping . Now for the placenta . This is normally delivered after injecting drugs to contract the uterus , but I had no such drugs . I had to rhythmically squeeze the uterus from above through the skin and muscle of the belly while pulling on the cord from below .
This set up a swell in the waterbed , with Mrs W rocking backwards and forwards past me while both of us started to turn green from nausea .
Just as we neared the point of serious seasickness , the placenta issued forth onto the newspapers supplied by Mr W and calm returned .
Mrs W had done what millions of women had done before her : delivered a normal baby .
Dr K , the consultant , yelled at us not to be so proud ; he said our first day was going to break us and make us cry and wish we had never decided to do medicine . At that moment , my dreams were shattered . I could feel tears welling up and willed myself not to cry . But it was too late . Dr K noticed my shiny eyes , zoned in and threw a pen at me for being so weak . He told me I was welcome to leave anytime I wanted . This was my initiation . Needless to say , I did not take him up on the offer . By the end of the first 36 hours , I had observed an intercostal drain being inserted and then done one myself , I had done more than 200 sutures , watched multiple emergency surgeries and walked out of that ED exhilarated and deflated all at once .
I had survived .