This one is a little messy

OK.. this blog post is about a delivery so if you are weak (aka Austin) don't read. If you aren't (Annie) be prepared for a really fab and insane story!

Yesterday, Lindsay and I were doing pre-natal check-ups when a woman came in complaining of labor pains. Luckily the clinic was pretty quiet so we snuck up to the delivery room to get in on the action. She was a 21 year old woman and it was her second baby. After the internal examination, the nurse, Maritess, determined she was bout 8 cm- 2 cm away from being ready to deliver. She got on the delivery table and within about 20 mins out popped a baby girl.

So, for those of you who know anything about childbirth, after the baby comes out the nurses (or docs) need to wait for the placenta to come out. They generally softly tug on the umbilical chord until it comes out. It's a bloody mess. In this instance, the umbiliical chord seemed strangely long. Maritess was pulling and pulling. Finally, she reached the end and NO PLACENTA was attached. Lindsay and I both had the expression on our face of WTF but didn't' say much.

Instantly, we were in emergency mode. Maritess quickly put on a giant glove that covered her all the way up to her elbow and put a normal glove on top of it. While the baby suckled her mom's nipple, Maritess took the plunge for the Placenta Retrieval Mission (PRM). Maritess is a small Filipina mother of six and within seconds she was elbow deep in the patient trying to find the placenta. After about five minutes of going in and out with no luck she finally pulls out the placenta- nearly completely in tact! Sweat is pouring down her face and she says "THANK YOU JESUS" and takes a large breath. Lindsay and I sit in astonishment and are also sweating profusely (nothing out of the ordinary for us).

As it turns out, we witnessed a very rare occurrence. This is something the clinic will see maybe once a year and in the US will rarely happen. An unhealthy placenta will detach from the umbilical chord if the patient doesn't have enough protein to make for a strong hold. This can happen if the woman is a smoker, vegetarian or malnourished. In this woman's case she is neither a smoker nor vegetarian, which made us thing she was just incredible malnourished. Had the placenta detached before the baby came out the baby would have lost all oxygen supply and died while still in utero.

Retrieving the placenta even if the baby is out has complications of its own. The woman will now remain on antibiotics for a week to ensure that the leftover pieces of the placenta don't cause infection. Essentially, the PRM was a very rare medical occurance. The baby and mom are healthy but wow!

My time is running out- beach tomorrow. More posts later!