The Hospital

The Labour Room

The prenatal sex determination test was banned in India in 1994. The word prenatal itself means before birth. During those days, India with a strong patriarchal influence began to abort female fetuses meaning the killing of female babies before birth.  It was so much so that the child-sex ratio began to go down at alarming rates. Villages that were far off from the hospitals and those who did not want to be noticed began burying female babies. Graveyards of dead female newborn babies emerged and this caused the government to introduce an Act that would ban such tests. More importance was given to the welfare of girl children by other schemes and acts introduced by the government. In many places government took measures to help pregnant women for also proper care and delivery of babies. This helped ensure that the number of female babies dying was reduced.

The doors of the elevator opened and Sneha walked out. This was the third floor. She turned and looked back at Shankar, who simply stood nervously in between the patients and a few doctors. Ayesha had already left before for her surgery duty. Before leaving they all exchanged their numbers in the elevator so that they could communicate later. 

Sneha sighed as she turned and walked ahead to the counter in front of her. Five ladies were sitting behind the huge white desk. Each of them had a laptop in front of them and each one of them looked perfect. They all had fake eyelashes and extremely straight hair which was mostly done by Keratin treatment. Their make-up was perfect and they all wore ankle-length dresses. However colour of the dress was different for each one of them and they all wore different lipsticks.

Sneha approached the lady who wore a bright purple dress with white flowers on it. She had a dark red lipstick and she tied her hair in a neat bun.  The moment her eyes landed on Sneha, she scanned her from top to down with a frown.

'Wow! Just a receptionist and this attitude! This place leaks of arrogant jerks!' Thought Sneha as she approached her.

"Dr Sneha here." She said confidently despite the woman in front ignoring her.

"Dr Vikram told me to check with the reception where exactly I am posted."

"Are you sure about that?" the woman asked her without looking at her.

"Yes."

"Well, indeed you are posted for Labour room but you need to improve your dressing sense. On this floor, there isn't a single person who doesn't dress well. You should look attractive to our patients. Anyways, you need to go straight to the far end of this corridor. It is right in the middle at the far end. It is the last room on this floor."

Sneha laughed but not very loud. This time the woman turned and looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Dear, let's not confuse patients with clients. They come here for treatment. Good treatment impresses them not dressing sense. If we don't treat them well, will they even come back? Also dear you should know that no matter how polite an insult is, you shouldn't do it to a person in my position."

Sneha turned leaving the woman stunned. She was straight as the woman told her. After passing several rooms and wards, she finally reached the labor room at the end of the corridor. She suddenly remembered what Ayesha told her about her phone.

'Damn! I didn't ask that receptionist about an internet connection!' Thought Sneha miserably.

The door of the labor room opened and a nurse in blue scrubs walked out. Sneha immediately took her chance.

"Excuse me, I just joined the hospital today. I urgently need to inform Dr Vikram about my duty schedule. Can you tell me the wi-fi password?" Asked Sneha politely.

"Sure. Check for Lakshmi and type 1234."

"Thank you so much."

As soon as the wi-fi connection came, Sneha looked at the notifications but did not see any WhatsApp message.

'Relax! I must wait. Of course, it will take some time.' Thought Sneha.

Never in her life before, she took the help of someone to do something. The only time she did was when she was trying to settle in her initial days at the orphanage. Although she was nervous, she was also surprised at Ayesha's willingness to help. Shankar on the other hand was reluctant but he did finally exchange his number with them. She never thought that she would get to see such things on her first day in the hospital.  

Sneha pushed the door open and walked inside. Just as she expected, there was chaos inside. There were nurses and doctors all around the room with files. Some were changing their operation theater gowns and putting them inside a used clothes bin. Some were wearing the gowns along with along with a separate personal protective equipment kit. Some were even sitting down on the few chairs that were in each corner of the room with white-colored files in their hands which Sneha assumed were patient's files. In the middle of the room right opposite her was another door. An old woman in a nurse's uniform came out of that door. Like others, she too wore a gown with personal protective equipment and she also had an operation head cap over her head. She looked at a clipboard in her hand as she spoke loudly.

"Next delivery is within fifteen minutes. Dr Ria, you can assist Dr Manisha. Nurse Sandra, please bring the patient Ruchita from the ward. Dr Ria, you can start preparation with Nurse Sandra."

"Excuse me." Said Sneha as she approached the old nurse.

The old lady turned and looked at Sneha surprised. It seemed like she was not aware that Sneha would join them.

"Good morning, I am Dr Sneha. Today is my first day in the hospital and Dr Vikram asked me to come here."

"Oh!" That was all she managed to say. She looked at her clipboard before speaking again.

"Okay, So Dr. I am Nurse Ritu. You are replacing the previous doctor who left so we will follow the schedule like that. We are doing normal deliveries only here. The C-sections and other operations are on the other side. For you, maybe the next normal delivery will take an hour. You have plenty of time until then. The patient has only mild pain now. She is a primi so it's the first time and you know, first deliveries take time and are not easy. So we have already started her on fluids but in case needed we will transfer her here early."

"Thank you. Can you tell me which ward she is in? I will go and monitor her until then."

"She is in the antenatal ward It is just outside on the right of this room. Patient's name is Aparna" She said smiling.

"Thank you." Said Sneha politely.

Just as she turned and walked she received a notification on her phone. It was Shankar's message on WhatsApp. It had the patient's name and number.

'Finally!'