South African Health care

One of the things that has hit me most since living in Mozambique is the difference in level of health care that one receives and how vital that is in our lives and a vital part that is missing in the lives of the poorest. Life is so fragile in Mozambique and death so common. It is not only the lack of supplies, staff or hospitals but that I have not found hospital staff to be overly friendly in Mozambique which adds to the sense of emotional stress for the sick. One of the reasons we chose to go out of Mozambique to South Africa is that men are not allowed in the delivery room in Mozambique. As I sat through pre-natal class the other day and listened to the nurse-teacher tell us how vitally important it is for the men to be involved and to be the cheer-leader for the woman during labor, I realized how much more difficult it would be, emotionally, for the women of Mozambique who go to the hospital alone to give birth. South Africa is Mozambique's neighbor and several hours drive from Johannesburg. So how is it that the health systems differ so much in capacity and outlook?

There was more I noticed as we sat through class. Epidurals, Cesarean operations, television in the rooms, baths, showers and other stuff to entertain. All things that help to make the woman comfortable in labor and create a comfortable atmosphere. None of which is available to the woman in Mozambique. Not that it is bad to be comfortable. I believe that this is the mandate of the medical institution, but I am always reminded of our broken world in countries like Moz where the institutions do not have the capacity, are stressed or where many of the staff see the job as a paycheck instead of a calling to care for the sick and ease their suffering. Jenny, reminded me that she watched a woman walk from the hospital to the ambulance that was to take her from Gondola to Chimoio because she was in need for an emergency Cesarean operation. In South Africa they would wheel you out in a wheel chair. It is not that this does not exist in Moz, but often there is not enough supplies or the nurse just decides that he/she does not feel like doing it that particular day. In Moz, if you ask questions about what is happening to you, you get yelled at because you are not trusting the doctors, yet we are sitting in a class where the nurses are telling us everything we need to know so that we are aware of everything ahead of time. I do not want to be to hard on Mozambique because I know the problems are much deeper but there is some truth to what I am saying.

What is more, in Johannesburg, the hospital will put a package together of everything you need for the first two weeks and make a cd that we can take home with us. Wow, so much care. It reminds me that the way we are treated by our medical institutions can make a huge difference in our experience.

I guess I could either be depressed or thankful. For now I will be thankful.

Toward the end of class I heard the nurse mention, "Theatre"

"Wow, even a theatre," I said.

Jenny let me know that in South Africa "Theatre" is the word for operating room.

Rats, I could use a good movie right now.