Day 8: Lesson learnt

Today was the first day of my placement at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra. Korle Bu is pretty much the King’s College Hospital of Ghana. I’ll be shadowing healthcare professionals in Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Cardiology (hello SURGERY!). First stop: Reproductive Health Centre!

Fact: I am not squeamish. The sight of blood doesn’t make me feel faint. When people show off their cuts and bruises, I’ll always lean in closer to take a better a look. But today, I learnt an invaluable lesson- always eat enough for breakfast.

Over the last seven days, because of the heat, I’ve had very little for breakfast and survived until tea time. This morning I ate the same amount as usual but by 11am heard a little rumbling in my stomach. A few minutes later, I was called to watch an implant insertion into a patient’s arm and after two minutes found that my eyes had difficulty focusing and my head had started to feel a little light. In spite of this, I stayed and watched until the end of the procedure (can’t have them thinking I’m not tough enough!) and whipped out the old “oh, it’s really warm in here, I might go and get a little water” before stumbling to a cool spot and knocking back an entire bottle.

But still, it was a fab day. I saw several contraceptive injections and implants (both into the arm) and even (apologies to any squeamish readers!) a few smear tests .

With Auntie Christie, matron of the
Reproductive Health Centre

I also sat in on a few counselling sessions, mostly introducing new couples to different contraceptive methods (basically, a UK style PSHE/ RS GCSE lesson. You know the ones.) and was surprised by how little most people knew about the various methods (since in the UK we learn about these things in detail before we're 16!).

I was, however, truly impressed by the support the staff give to their patients. They encourage couples to discuss the best options and there are motivational posters everywhere. 

My personal favourites from the “10 Ways To Talk To Her About Family Planning” poster were:

2) Talk to her after a bowl of fufu

5) Sing to her

7) Give her a piece of cloth, then talk to her.

NB. 

For men who choose option 7, I highly recommend Kente cloth. Always a winner.