2 months ago. I saw a patient in labour room, she was in tears worrying about her pregnancy. She was told by the private doctor that her baby stopped growing. After my assessment, she needs a frequent follow up under us and she may need imminent delivery at any point of time. Her baby stopped growing for the past 2 weeks. Detailed scan done by 3 specialists showed a grossly normal baby.
It didn't last for even a week, she underwent an emergency operation. On the next day, I was shocked to receive a phone call from a group of friends, telling me that both couples were crying. I was on my way back from lunch, rushed to SCN (where their baby was admitted), I was taken back by the news. The baby is likely to be Patau Syndrome.
I straightaway went and met the patient. She was in tears, and for the very first time, I cried as well in front of my patient. I couldn't hold my tears. My heart was torn. After arranging them to a special room behind, I left. I still need to go to the combine clinic. On and off, I still burst into tears. I was seeing the combine clinic patients asking how are they doing but inside my heart there was an indescribable feelings. My heart is aching.
Days passed, everyday I would pay her and the baby a visit even when she was transferred to the NICU (neonatal ICU). She was there spending her time with the baby. I could see her eyes swollen, very swollen. She must be crying everyday. During my oncall, when the ward was not busy, I will go and visit her and have a chat with her. I always believe that companion is better than all those comforting words.
There's one Saturday afternoon when I planned to go to a church activity, but I ended up in hospital because I was late for the church activity. To my surprise, the baby was intubated. Things didn't seem alright. Not long after that, she left us.
I remembered when I was oncall, whenever I was free(usually about 2-3 am), I will spend time with the baby in NICU. I can see that she was so lonely. I talked to her. She was strong, she survived long enough for her condition. She is an angel, that I will never ever forget. I wish to see her again in heaven. The sadness is indescribable, and I believed the mother had so much more to bear. It is not easy. I won’t ask her to walk out of the dark shadow, but I prayed that she will move on with the scar.
Most of the time people will blame the mother for what has happened to the baby. And that is the most common question asked by patients. I told the her, it wasn’t her fault that the baby ended up with Patau Syndrome.
p/s: permission granted from the patient for this post
It didn't last for even a week, she underwent an emergency operation. On the next day, I was shocked to receive a phone call from a group of friends, telling me that both couples were crying. I was on my way back from lunch, rushed to SCN (where their baby was admitted), I was taken back by the news. The baby is likely to be Patau Syndrome.
I straightaway went and met the patient. She was in tears, and for the very first time, I cried as well in front of my patient. I couldn't hold my tears. My heart was torn. After arranging them to a special room behind, I left. I still need to go to the combine clinic. On and off, I still burst into tears. I was seeing the combine clinic patients asking how are they doing but inside my heart there was an indescribable feelings. My heart is aching.
Days passed, everyday I would pay her and the baby a visit even when she was transferred to the NICU (neonatal ICU). She was there spending her time with the baby. I could see her eyes swollen, very swollen. She must be crying everyday. During my oncall, when the ward was not busy, I will go and visit her and have a chat with her. I always believe that companion is better than all those comforting words.
There's one Saturday afternoon when I planned to go to a church activity, but I ended up in hospital because I was late for the church activity. To my surprise, the baby was intubated. Things didn't seem alright. Not long after that, she left us.
I remembered when I was oncall, whenever I was free(usually about 2-3 am), I will spend time with the baby in NICU. I can see that she was so lonely. I talked to her. She was strong, she survived long enough for her condition. She is an angel, that I will never ever forget. I wish to see her again in heaven. The sadness is indescribable, and I believed the mother had so much more to bear. It is not easy. I won’t ask her to walk out of the dark shadow, but I prayed that she will move on with the scar.
Most of the time people will blame the mother for what has happened to the baby. And that is the most common question asked by patients. I told the her, it wasn’t her fault that the baby ended up with Patau Syndrome.
p/s: permission granted from the patient for this post
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