Did anyone watch the toughest place to be a midewife last night?

[thefinerthingsinlife]

It was bloody interesting.

I found myself really torn over alot of it, on one hand the care the mothers recieved in hospital was shocking. For example a lady who had just given birth to a still-born baby (her baby had been pt in a bedpan for her to collect when she was reaady) was on a bed next to a lady who was/had given birth to a healthy baby. Lots of the women seemed to be a single parent. There is a fear of rape (less now than during the civil war). Lots of the women worked a number of jobs to survive.

Then on the other hand in the interview with the Liberian midwife she seem really empowered and was proud the in the majority of cases the women was the breadwinner.

Obviously I meant midwife in the title

have recorded it and hope to watch tonight
it did say 'contains distressing scenes' but thanks for the more specific info, forewarned is forearmed. Doesn't Liberia have a woman president?

Yes, they do.

I forgot to post this to the liberian women's peace movement that ended the civil war

i saw the second half but i would really like to see it all. is it on iplayer?

Actually that link isn't very good. I image so Boo

I was horrified and the roughness of the birth that made the midwife cry. If that poor woman with the herbs was in this country it would have been very different for her. I felt lucky to be here and incredibly sad for the women there. What impressed me was how welcoming the Liberians were, they offered so much when they have so little. Where were the dads? I couldn't have made it through without my dh. Also he wouldn't have wanted to miss his ds being born.

It was utterly brutal and humbling at the same time wasn't it?
I admired the midwife for her honesty over the difference between what she'd expected and what she found out...she also managed to be polite e.g. when the head midwife was talking to her about their methods like squashing the baby out of the uterus with force. You could see she really wanted to stand up and yell ' that's bloody dangerous and crazy' but she didn't.
Those midwives work under terrible and basic conditions but keep smiling and the women receive care in what looks like really dangerous conditions (how do they clean the plastic beds properly before the next person, and it looked like you needed to pay for treatment, not everything was free e.g. enough blood for your transfusion...) but again, they keep smiling and thanking everyone. Amazing.
God we are lucky.

The part of the show that struck me most was seeing the pristine incubators sitting unused as no one had explained how to use them :(

I agree that the women lived in awful conditions, but that they gained strength from their work and being around other women.

Yes, we are so lucky to live in UK with the NHS.

That poor woman hannah who took the poison. :( I really couldn't stop thinking about her. Beautiful young woman what a waste.