In case you thought our trip to Guatemala was all fun and games, there is actually a reason we did not post yesterday. For the past two days we worked at the Casa Materna in a Feria de la Salud (Health Fair). As you can see in the poster (of Melissa) we were seeing pregnant patients for prenatal consults, obstetrical ultrasounds, consults for pediatrics and general women's health. A "consulta" basically translates as a doctor visit to ask medical questions. Luckily our kind and competent colleague Dagmar "la Cubana" helped us with PAP tests, so la Flaminga Negra happily passed her PAP queen crown on to Dagmar. Every one we meet wants to know "Donde esta El Loro, Dr. Gobbo?" Pues Donde Beto??
Tuesday, we all worked in the Feria de Salud. On Wednesday, while Chris, Josh, and Melissa saw patients at Casa Materna, Rosalicia and Mariah were trailblazer residents, stepping Providence feet into the National Hospital. They were paired up with a nice resident, and got to see how birth is managed in a hospital with few resources, with as many as 16 vaginal births and 12 cesareans in a 4 hour period.
As is generally the case, the first day of the Feria was a cluster $#%$. In the morning as patients filled the front entry hall and spilled out the door. Gracias a Dios for the help of everyone at Casa Materna and the Rafael Landivar nursing students.
Last night we met with the Minister of Health of Huehuetenango, as well as Pascale and Bal Maria, the respective heads of PCI Guatemala and PCI Huehuetenango. He approved placing misoprostol in remote rural health outposts, which is a step forward toward reducing the maternal death rate. Tomorrow we head to San Juan Ixcoy for the first of our rural health clinics.
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