Kris and Kim in Kenya: Welcome to Labor and Delivery!

I'm struggling to find the words to describe how it feels to walk into "my" office and finally begin working after twenty years - literally, twenty years! - of moving toward this goal. Most days, it feels good! Other days, I wonder if I'm really prepared for this. And some days, I know that my only victory is going to be ridding my office of a few more spiders and dead moths. Which, I have to say, is quite satisfying.

Thanks to a very generous donation from some friends of the hospital, our labor and delivery area is in the early stages of a major upgrade! So far we have received new labor and delivery beds and some bili lights. Tiling of the floor and walls, a new gyne exam bed, new lights, and other upgrades are coming. Previously, the beds on labor and delivery were just cots - no ability to break down the bed for delivery, no stirrups (well, one bed out of four had stirrups, but they didn't work), covered with rust, no siderails. We received four brand new beds which are much more comfortable for both the patient and the delivering provider. Remember that in Kenya, only 44% of deliveries are attended by a skilled provider. That doesn't mean 44% of deliveries are in a hospital where monitoring or c-section are available, just that someone has received training on maternal and neonatal care, and should have some knowledge of how to refer to a hospital if necessary. Our upgrades will allow us to take better care of our patients and hopefully will draw more patients in to receive skilled care.