MSF nurse Raquel Ludvisken describes child birth in Darfur
It must be well over 40 degrees centigrade. The sun is high in the sky. The woman in front of me is burning with fever. She is too weak to object or make a sound. Her eyes are closed and her mouth is halfway open.
The smell of blood is strong in the back of the car. We didn't make it to the hospital. She has just given birth to a son right here in our car, a healthy little boy weighing 2.5 kilos. We have parked in the shade of a tree. I'm wondering if she will pull through.
She has two children at home. Not long ago, she was running for her life. She carried one of the children; the father carried the other one. Her village was attacked. They survived, but lost everything. The woman's husband looks at me with concern while he strokes her forehead.
We still have a 30-minute drive ahead of us on very bad roads before we arrive at the hospital in the town of Serif Umra, one of the many locations in Darfur, Sudan, where MSF is working. I have started giving the mother malaria treatment. But she was already very sick when she was brought to us. I have a lot of the medicines and equipment I need to help her, but there are limitations. By radio I discuss with one of our doctors how best to treat her.