It is a quiet day, a holiday, the morning starts with an ultrasound and then a maternity visit. There are no appointments scheduled for the rest of the day. My father is visiting from the Netherlands, we decide to invite Steffen's father and stepmother for a BBQ at our house, we have just moved and now have plenty of room for this. During the day I am busy marinating some meat and making salads. Around 4 o'clock in the afternoon we find out that the briquettes are gone and Steffen and I decide to go get them together.
On the way I get a call from a pregnant woman who is over 36 weeks old, she suddenly has a lot of blood loss. I immediately tell her to come to the practice for an ultrasound, Steffen hears the conversation and automatically drives on to the practice. There I turn on the machine and different scenarios play out in my head. She didn't have a low lying placenta, did she? A quick look back at the images, no, that is not the case. Still heavy bleeding from the cervix? It won't be a detached placenta, that's so rare. Especially with such a healthy pregnant woman.
The wait is long, my thoughts are working overtime, which does not help the nerves.
When they arrive at the practice I see the panic in their eyes, they lie down quickly, with the ultrasound I see a beating heart, relief. Her partner indicates that he thought they had already lost the child. There are tears in his eyes.
I immediately look further, I see bleeding behind the placenta, a lot of bleeding, shit, it's really a detachment! I quickly call the gynecologist, and in the meantime Steffen calls the ambulance. Then I grab everything to insert an IV, while the gynecologist calls me back, no time to answer, first the IV. 1st time puncturing failed, 2nd time it was fine, yes! Steffen arrives with an IV bag. I quickly call the gynecologist back and explain that I was just setting up an IV; “ah great, I was just going to ask you that.” I immediately ask if she would also like me to place an indwelling catheter, please! is the answer.
The pregnant woman keeps looking at me, there is panic in her eyes.
While the catheter is being placed, the ambulance arrives, good timing!
I quickly check the baby's heart rate, it's still good!
I go with us in the ambulance, my partner drives behind us in his car and Steffen stays behind, I quickly look back. The bank is a bloodbath, packages of medical supplies are everywhere. Steffen sees me looking and quickly says that he will clean everything up.
The ride in the ambulance is bumpy, the roads are not the best here, but we also drive fast, very fast. The brothers understand very well that it is serious and that we should not waste any time. Thank goodness it is a public holiday so there is little traffic. In the meantime, I constantly listen to the baby's heart rate, which drops slightly every now and then, but luckily it catches up every time. The pregnant woman keeps looking at me, there is panic in her eyes, I try to reassure her as much as possible; with words and nods ; I can still hear him, he is still there... We will be at the CMC within 5 minutes. We run with her up to the maternity ward. The gynecologist confirms the diagnosis and decides to perform an emergency caesarean section, the operating team is already ready.
I stay behind in the waiting room with my partner, how slowly the minutes pass.
In the end we get the redeeming word, their son is alive and doing well!
A little later the new mother returns to the ward, still completely dazed from the anesthesia but in tears, with relief and fear.
She is doing well, she has lost a lot of blood but she is stable.
The gynecologist comes to tell me that the placenta had already completely separated, the baby was born limp and pale, a few extra minutes and he would not have survived.
Steffen comes to pick me up at the CMC, when I get into the car I feel how tired I am, how much tension there is in my body. The tears are running down my cheeks. How happy I am that this turned out well, and that this gynecologist was on duty, took my word for it and immediately initiated all actions. This has saved this child!
There is a lot of talking in the maternity bed, recalling how everything went, how grateful we are that he survived. A bond has been created between me, the client and her partner, but also between them and Steffen. Moments like this are life-changing, unforgettable.
In addition to the mental part, it is also clear that mother and child need to recover physically, breastfeeding starts slowly and he has little strength to drink. People are pumping, eating extremely well (thanks to dear family members), but there doesn't seem to be enough production. An image that matches a lot of blood loss after childbirth. But this powerful woman perseveres, after a few months she is fully breastfeeding and the little slim man has become a chubby boy! So proud
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