So, I braved the Central Maternity for the second time this week :) Fatimatou is looking good. She moves slowly--she did in fact have a C-section. And she's so proud of her little girl. It's so sweet! The one very disconcerting thing though was this: there was a LARGE bandaged across the little girl's upper abdomen. When I asked about it, I was informed that when they cut Fatimatou open for the C-section, they cut a little too deep and cut the baby!! Yikes!! No wonder women here are terrified of C-sections! I don't blame them one bit!
When we got there, they were calling the little baby, "Little Rebecca." I felt so honored to have the baby named after me...but then when I was handed the birth certificate, I noticed the name written on there was Zeinab. Unbeknownst to them, when I first arrived in Niger, some Fulani women named me Zeinab. So I guess I can claim to be the namesake regardless ;)
Fatimatou and Little Rebecca/Zeinab
The proud new Auntie Raichatou, mommy Fatimatou and me!
(The maternity was nicer than I'd remembered it from my first visit over a year ago--maybe I've just been in Niger too long...but I felt so glad for Fatimatou that her shared room had a working fan--the temperature these days has been in the forties!)
thanks for sharing, Rebecca!! I found your last 2 entries SUPER interesting! (I have been in the delivery room for at least 6 births in North America and each time it makes me realize just how much the birth of a child is a miracle!) Do you know what was wrong with Fatimatou in the first place? Why did she need an emergency c-section? Was the baby breached? After having read up on obstetrical fistulas, reading Fatimatou's story made me worried...good to hear that all is well! Can't wait to see you in August!
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