3 in 1 equals 4. 3 mothers in labour, 1 plane = 4 babies Story and Pictures by Luke and Catherine Newell
Sometimes we get calls for help and we are not able to assist because we are short of pilots or an aeroplane is in maintenance, but on this occasion there just weren’t enough hours in the day. On Friday afternoon, after almost finishing the day’s flying program I got a call from the doctor at Rumginae Hospital requesting a medevac for a mother in Balimo. The mother had been in labour with twins for quite some time already. The first baby had been born and was doing well but the second baby was refusing to face the outside world. It was 4:00pm when we got this call, I was in Lake Murray which was in the right direction but still an hour’s flight away. Balimo has a hospital but no doctor and their airstrip is closed due to major upgrading works. The nearest airport is the MAF base at Kawito. With the river being a little lower at the moment the dinghy trip takes about an hour (once a dinghy and some fuel have been found, and the patient is loaded on board). That would not leave enough time to get to the Rumginae hospital before dark. After again talking to the doctor it was decided that there was not a lot of physical help we could provide at that time and sadly would Kawito airstrip and MAF base expect the baby to die overnight. If that happened a flight wouldn't be required.
Flying for Life
Waking up Saturday, I was expecting to have a day off and take it easy at home. Not to be! At 7:10am the doctor was back on the phone with information that the baby was still alive and still needing to get to a hospital with a doctor. Overnight two more mothers also needed to get to the doctor so they all made the trip on the dinghy to Kawito. We loaded up the plane with fuel and a patient that we medevaced two Saturdays previously for appendicitis, who had recovered and was returning home.
Inside the plane. The guardian lady with the new born baby sitting in the back.
By the time we arrived at Kawito the dinghy was still a long way from arriving. The Kawito staff and I again refuelled and removed seats ready for the stretchers.
Dr Sharon talking to one of the mothers after landing at Rumginae
When they arrived, all three mothers were on stretchers and unable to walk. This was a bit of a challenge because normally we deal with only one stretcher! After talking with them, we found that one could sit in a seat with assistance and we had room for two stretchers on the floor. There was also the newborn baby and a guardian to help look after the patients. In PNG a guardian must accompany the patient to hospital to look after bedding, laundry and cook food etc. After the 1½ hr flight back to Rumginae, a big team of national medical staff from the hospital met the plane and unloaded the ladies. The mother that had already given birth to one twin was seen straight away and the baby was delivered, but was not doing well. The doctors performed CPR on the baby for 20-30mins before it started to breathe on its own!
Scenes from unloading the patients at Rumginae airstrip and transfering them into the ambulance.
Update on patients Tunibato, the Mother of the twins gave birth to the first twin girl named Payaleto last week Thursday, which was 5 days prior to the medevac flight. The second twin girl was delivered by caesarean section on Saturday night and after 20-30minutes of Rumginae Hospital staff performing CPR on the baby, she began to cry. The mother named the second girl Sharon after Dr Sharon who delivered her.
Flying for Life
The other two mothers were both high-risk pregnancies due to pre-eclampsia. One of these mothers, her name is Elsie, was induced and delivered a healthy baby boy last Sunday, the day after the medevac. She named her newborn boy Ezra. The third mother, Solowayato, was going to be induced last Monday however that wasn't necessary in the end as she had a natural delivery on Monday morning. She hasn‘t named her girl yet. Although Solowayato was able to deliver her baby girl naturally it was discovered that her little girl has clubfoot. The staff at Rumginae are able to treat clubfoot with plastering. If this baby wasn't delivered in Rumginae, her clubfoot would have gone untreated leaving her with a life-long disability.
Tunibato with her twin girls Payaleto (pictured on the right) and Sharon
Elsie with her baby boy Ezra
Sobowayato with her little baby girl
0_3in1equals4 LNewell Aug14
With the river being a little lower at the moment the dinghy trip takes about an hour (once a dinghy and some fuel have been found, and the patient is ... The mother that had already given birth to one twin was seen straight away and the baby was delivered, but was not doing well. The doctors performed CPR on the baby for ...
