12/21

I spent most of today in the CWC, or Child Welfare Center (i.e. pediatrics). I have worked considerable hours in a pediatric office near my home, and the differences were simply astonishing.

Due to the volume of patients, weight is used as the primary indicator of health. Vaccination history is always checked, but most steps traditionally found in well baby checks are nonexistent (i.e. Babinski reflex testing or charting head circumference/vital signs). Mothers brought their own towels (used when the child is placed on the weighing scale) because the clinic did not have any reusable methods of maintaining sanitary conditions. There are also no stethescopes, so the clinical health officer listened to the baby with her ears.

One particularly troublesome case was a child with diahrhea. The mother stopped giving the child water because she was concerned that the child would have more watery stool. The child had not grown in the last 3 months, and we were finally able to determine the reason for asking series of questions about diet and sleeping habits.

In the Ob/Gyn area of matters, I learned that many women do not bring in their newborns to get vaccinated after delivering at home. I created large signs encouraging vaccination and placed them at "hang-out" places around Kibera.