Despite the overwhelming heat (yes, I’m bragging, but only a little) and incredibly long days, my time here is flying by! Halfway through my stay here I find I’ve settled into somewhat of a routine and am feeling very much at home in this beautiful country.

The last two weeks have been amazing – my mornings (and some afternoons/evenings) have been spent in Obstetrics and Gynaecology while the rest my time has been spent exploring Efate with friends. I visited both Blue Lagoon and Iririki Island, stunning places which everyone visiting Vanuatu should make an effort to see.

I chose to spend time in Obs and Gynae as I was keen to see how the maternity services here compared to those at home. With a few exceptions (mostly around resources, for example, you can’t get an epidural here), things are much the same. The biggest difference I have found is in the attitude of the women in labour.

I have yet to see a woman here request or accept pain relief, even when they are crying out with each contraction, saying they can’t do it anymore. Although there are only a few options for pain relief anyway (woman have a choice between paracetamol and pethidine), this does not seem to be the reason it is refused. To me is seems that the Ni-Van’s believe that if generations of women before them could give birth without pain relief, why can’t they? This has been unbelievably empowering to witness.

Another huge difference for me is how busy the maternity ward has been, despite it being the ‘slow season’ for births. Staff here estimate they deliver around 300 babies a month – the same number that Grey Base Hospital (Greymouth, New Zealand) estimated they deliver in a year! This means that Antenatal clinics are overflowing with women. One clinic I attended had a massive 60 people arrive, all of whom were seen within two hours between the two doctors running the clinic. I have so much respect for the team here and was glad that I could use the skills I had learnt in Greymouth to help out in these clinics wherever possible.

One of the many highpoints of my time in Obs and Gynae was spending time with two midwifery students from Auckland, Sophie and Justine, who were also gaining work experience here. Meeting these girls turned out to be great for my learning as they are both about to graduate and were therefore a fountain of knowledge about babies and birthing. They actively encouraged me to participate in the births, letting me deliver a placenta before talking me through the delivery process so I could deliver my first baby this week (perhaps the biggest highlight of my time so far)!

I am incredibly grateful for the time these two girls took out of their day to answer all of my questions and teach me what they could. Anyone planning to give birth in Auckland should definitely keep an eye out for these two – they are going to make fantastic midwives!

To finish up this blog I really wanted to share one of the more positive and frankly beautiful moments I’ve witnessed over the last two weeks. On my third day on the maternity ward, I entered the delivery suite to find Grace* in labour with twins, one of which was cephalic, whilst the other was breech presentation.

As the morning passed, it appeared that things were not progressing as they should and the decision was made to send Grace for a caesarean section. Whilst waiting for a doctor to assess and consent her, another midwife came in and performed a vaginal examination during a contraction. This midwife made the call that the babies were ready to be delivered and so Grace was told, in no uncertain terms “Yu no cry out, yu lisen gud and yu pushem long and strong”.

When the leading twin’s head was finally crowning, Grace began to smile and even laugh with excitement (between contractions of course) – all her hard work was paying off and she was about to meet her babies.

The delivery went smoothly and Sophie and Justine had the privilege of announcing to Grace that she had just given birth to two gorgeous, healthy girls (only the private hospital has the resources to determine the sex of babies so this was a special announcement for Grace).

The look on Grace’s face while she cuddled her two daughters blew me away. It was a privilege to see such joy on the face of a woman who an hour earlier had been exhausted and upset. It made me realise that despite the hardships the Ni-Vanuatu people go through, they are strong because these hardships mean they take more delight in things like giving birth to a healthy baby.

This is something which we at home may take for granted with all the resources we have to ensure good outcomes for both babies and their mothers. I hope that this lesson will stick with me when I return home in three weeks.

*Nom-de-plume