Delivering and Saving Lives – GSGC Alumnae Find Purpose and Joy

The first birth the Believe Club alumnae attended as nursing students, they admitted, was a bit scary. But the second time, their professionalism took over.

“You feel a great responsibility put on your shoulders,” said Elizabeth Lubinda, 19, (above, right). “You do everything you can so that mother and baby are OK.”

Second-year nursing students at Livingstone Central Hospital Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Elizabeth and Given Kwanga, 21, (center with Auntie Gloria Mubita) are completing a practicum at Maramba Clinic in Livingstone, Zambia. The welcome sign outside says, “Prevention of Mother-to-Child-Transmission of HIV Site. Supported by the USA Presidential Initiative Fund.”

Second-year nursing students at Livingstone Central Hospital Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Elizabeth Lubinda, 19, and Given Kwanga, 21, are completing a practicum at Maramba Clinic in Livingstone, Zambia. The welcome sign outside says, “Prevention of Mother-to-Child-Transmission of HIV Site. Supported by the USA Presidential Initiative Fund.”

The women, graduates of GSGC-sponsored Believe Club headed by Auntie Gloria Mubita, say they feel confident and supported by the lessons they learned and the network they wove at Believe Club. They are fast friends.

Each has delivered breech babies. Elizabeth explains the types of breech births. “Anything is possible, but it’s the skill of the midwife to save the life of that mother and child,” she said.

They’ve attended still births. Given explains how difficult labor can be to deliver a still-born baby. “No midwife, no mother would want that,” Elizabeth added.

Neither has lost a patient. Rather, they feel enormous satisfaction when a patient they’ve cared for walks out the door.

“It’s up to you as a caregiver to be efficient and effective, to be sure that person goes home well,” said Elizabeth. “It’s satisfying to be part of something, to see your professionalism has great results.”

Attending to some patients’ psychological needs is paramount, Given said, noting that patients who undergo colostomy surgery can be prone to depression. “You have to help them and their family understand how to stay healthy and that it’s not the patient’s fault.”

Earlier, the two worked in a rural area of western Zimbabwe where the HIV rate can be as high as 80 percent and children younger than 10 come to the clinic for their antiviral medication. Adolescents as young as 12 come for free family planning services. In that region, Given said, women and girls are more concerned about getting pregnant than getting HIV.

The nursing students double-glove when caring for an HIV-positive patient, and they teach new mothers how to breast feed to avoid passing the virus to their babies.

“The way I feel, they’re no different than mothers who are not (infected),” Elizabeth said.

They take the job challenges in stride. Childbirth is painful, so some women scream at the students, blaming them for their discomfort. But a short time later, the new mothers leave the clinic thanking Elizabeth and Given for their care. Sometime, they said, the new mothers name their babies after them.

“We’re inspired and moved about what happens,” Elizabeth said.

Given explained: “The feeling of pulling a baby out of a vagina, cleaning it up, and putting it on the mother’s belly to bond… Sometimes it’s like magic.”

— Holley Gilbert, GSGC volunteer

      (top left photo at top left with Elizabeth and Given.)