Colour Coded Heaven

Today was the antenatal clinic where women come in for their checkups.

I started off in the lab testing urine. Each woman has a number on their notes which matches up to the number on the cup in which their urine is. Our centre has a coloured paper clip system where different colours show what the women need, e.g. yellow – they need a urine test, red – the need a blog test etc.
So I put gloves on an dipped a card into the cup and depending on which thing we are testing for we check it at different times. We test for glucose (30 seconds), proteins (60 seconds), nitrates (60 seconds) and leukocytes (120 seconds) which are a type of white blood cell and determines if the woman has a UTI. We then note this down in their notes and send them on to their next room. It’s a simple system but it works brilliantly and anything that’s colour coded I’m in favour of.

We then had a bit of a break while the next lot of women where registered and signed in at the desk. We started to take their vitals so temperature with a thermometer in the armpit, heart rate with a little machine that straps on the finger, respiratory rate which you have to sneakily count without the women realising (just count how many times they breathe in 30 seconds and then double it), blood pressure which I’m getting better and more confident at the more I practise, and weight – using one of those older weighing scales where you add the number and move it up and down a scale. We got a few of these in before the pastors arrived; the women sit through a seminar from them before the rest of their checkup and they have to have signed in on time and have listened to the talk to attend the clinic.

Then I went upstairs to have lunch and after lunch I was again watching our little prem baby who is doing a lot better! He is now exclusively breastfeeding instead of syringe and breastfeeding together but still have to be on oxygen a lot of the time, although it is at a slow rate. We’re hoping he can go home in the next couple of weeks!

It became unbearably hot by late afternoon as it hasn’t rained today, and then I remembered I actually have the rest of my gap year to plan! I need a job for when I get home but it’s hard when you’re on the other side of the world…