A Teenage Mother, My Patient.

A true story.

She was 17 years old. Married. Pregnant. Now in labour. 
(She was about to have her childbirth very soon)

I was there on duty. In the labour ward of JIPMER. 
As a final year MBBS student. 

She was yelling in pain. 

I was too tired & wanted to run out of the labour room and get some rest.

But I was very sensitive to the pregnant mothers' sufferings. Especially if they were bearing their first child, I consoled them more because they would have never experienced labour before.

I went to her side. After putting the IV line, taking the investigations and checking her BP, other vitals and checking her child's heart rate, I spoke to her. I spoke very calmly. I told her that all her pain would be short lasted. I told her that her child would come and make her the happiest woman on Earth. 

The more I spoke to her, the more calm she felt.

As I went away from her to check on the other patients, she'd call me whenever she got contractions. "Anna, please stay by my side" she'd say.
The nurse there was quite furious. She kept scolding my patient. "You are not the only patient here", "Does this doctor look like your Anna?", she kept yelling.

Whenever I went by her side, she'd hold my hands firm as her uterus contracted hard trying to push her child out. She seemed to feel a little lesser pain when I stood close. Or that is what I felt.

To me, she was still a child.

Unfortunately for her, her labour was getting prolonged. After all the drugs and treatment, after so much of suffering, she finally gave birth to a beautiful male child.

I personally put the stitches on her. I gave her good local anesthesia so that she'd feel no more pain. I was happy with what I'd done. I thought all her pain was gone and happiness was born into her life.

When she was taken out of the labour room in a wheel chair, I was standing outside.

I thought she'd wave happily at me.

But she tried to hold my hand again and she stared crying... " Anna, my husband is a drunkard. He beats me everyday. Please help me Anna".

I pulled my hand away from her. "Everything will be fine", I told her swiftly. I moved inside labour room with a broken heart. 

With a broken, bleeding heart.