Someone must have told God I was getting off far too easy on my call days.

The days were not fewer than other resident doctors’ calls, they were just lighter. Call it coincidence or whatever you will, but since I had been on labour ward call, I had caught up on my reading and I had been enjoying long nights of poring over textbooks in the reading room. But something or someone must have told on me because the series of events that happened that night made all other nights pale in comparative busyness.

The first patient came at about 7:40pm; she was our patient, fully booked, and had had 5 previous deliveries all in the hospital. She was not a first timer, and so would not need much orientation on labour ward rules. By the time she came, she was already 8cm dilated. I opened a partograph for her as the rules in the centre demanded, and she was progressing very well. After setting up an IV line and monitoring her contractions, I took her vitals, saw that they were normal and handed her over to the capable hands of the midwife. It was no use hanging around. The next time they would need me, if at all they would, was in two hours, and until then the nurses were more than able to take care of her.

As I walked back from the labour ward to the reading room, I heard some commotion in the distance. It was a very quiet night so any sound that went above speech decibel was easily heard. I could not make out what the commotion was about because the hospital gate was some 300 metres away, but the unmistakable sound of people disagreeing with one other could be heard. I hoped with all my heart that if they were patients, then they were heading for the A&E rather than the labour ward. I had topics to cover and I was determined to get to them. (more…)