RWANDA – Chinese doctors working on an annual missionary programme in Rwanda have performed a painless delivery of a baby for a pregnant mother at Masaka Hospital.
They performed the painless delivery – a procedure that they hope can become the most preferred form of delivery due to its benefits regarding easing the process.
In Rwanda, this service has been at King Faisal Hospital Kigali and University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK).
Also known as ‘painless normal delivery’ or ‘delivery with labour analgesia (epidural),’ the process is a technique where a very specific concentration of anaesthesia drugs is used to reduce the pain without taking away the mother’s ability to push the baby through the birth canal.
The technique is already in use in Rwanda though it is still rare, partly because of its cost and the fact that not many people know about it.
“The proportion of pain-free deliveries performed in China is around 40 per cent, but in the United States, it can go to 80 per cent. It is popular in some countries, but here in Rwanda, not many mothers are using it,” said Dr Wang Hui, a Chinese gynaecologist who was part of the team that conducted the painless delivery.
He noted that delivery pain is one of the most serious pains that humans experience, and that is why doctors should use some ways of reducing such pain.
“We want this procedure to be used more and more in Rwanda. So, we will try to promote it. We also hope that Chinese medics will give training to the local medics, specifically the anaesthesiologists, because many of them are used to spinal anaesthesia,” he noted.
Dr Su Nan, a Chinese anaesthesiologist who was part of the team that conducted the procedure, said painless delivery prevents postpartum depression among mothers, since such psychological complications are often caused by the pain that characterises the delivery process.
Dr Wang said the delivery cost was footed by the Chinese medical team, but if the mother had to pay, it would have been between US$80 to 100.
Every year, a team of Chinese medics is sent to Rwanda by their government to enhance cooperation in the health sector.
The programme has been in place since 1982. The team is often made up of about 15 medics who are deployed at Masaka and Kibungo hospitals.
According to information from the Chinese Embassy, the non-stop medical programme has seen more than half a million patients treated over the last 40 years.
Epidural in Rwanda
Widely used in other parts of the world, a pain relief method known as ‘epidural anaesthesia’ was officially introduced in Rwanda, launched on September 17 las year, at King Faisal Hospital Kigali.
Epidural is the best method that can be applied for any woman planning to give birth, even though there are other ways to relieve pain like morphine, nitrous oxide, and pethidine.
It is a procedure whereby an injection is given in the back of the expectant mother through the catheters (medical devices that can be inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform a surgical procedure) and the medication can be given by infusion (this is the delivery of liquid medicine or treatment through a vein). Once the catheter is inserted, it is left in the back, which enables the doctors to keep adding medication.
The doctors’ expectations are that this method is going to grow, almost all women will be extremely delighted, it will add to the willingness to have more children, there won’t be trauma caused by painful labour, and it will reduce the incidences of C-section.
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