Lilian Musalia, a nurse at Bukura Health Center in Kakamega County was watching TV late in the night with her husband on New Year’s Eve. At 11.00 p.m. she saw a WhatsApp message from one her colleagues who was on night duty.
“I feel like screaming, I have a mother with PPH and I am all alone with the watchman,” the message read.
This was happening in the background of the protracted 2016 Doctor’s strike that saw several patients die due to lack of specialized services including mothers in need of gynecological attention.
Instinctively, Lilian rushed out of her house to help the nurse at the Health Center. “The patient’s bed was soaked in blood and my colleague looked dazed by the unfolding events. I knew we had to act fast,” she recalls.
A 17 year old patient, had delivered her baby at 2.00 p.m., but experienced heavy bleeding shortly afterwards. She suffered from postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). She was given 40 units of oxytocin, but the bleeding did not stop.
To establish the cause of bleeding, Lilian swiftly examined the client for tears on the vagina, removed blood clots from the uterus and massaged the womb. She soon realized the patient was experiencing PPH.
“I knew UBT was the only solution. We had two UBTs in the maternity room so I began assembling one. I inserted the balloon and miraculously the bleeding stopped after filling it with only one liter of water,” recounts Lilian.
She left the facility at 2.00 a.m. after referring the patient to Mukumu Mission Hospital where she was transfused with two units of blood. The UBT was removed at 6.00 a.m. and the bleeding had completely stopped.The patient was saved.
Provided by: KMET