British Ebola worker risked his life to help deliver baby at treatment centre in Sierra Leone

March 28, 2015  16:21

A young woman lies in a pool of blood alongside her newborn baby on the dusty floor of an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone.

The Makeni unit is where West Africans believe they go to die, not 'to be born or to live', said British doctor James Meiring, who found the new mother.

But in a place that's notorious for death and suffering, Dr Meiring's quick-thinking paid off and both mother and baby have survived. 

And the newborn's name? Doctor James, of course.

Dr Meiring, 30, from Sheffield, is a married father-of-one who travelled to Sierra Leone last month to help halt the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, which has already claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people.

He is an infectious diseases trainee at Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, but spent five weeks as an International Medical Corps volunteer at the Makeni treatment unit between February 6 and March 15.

The centre was built by the British Army, funded by the UK government, and has so far screened more than 385 patients - 105 of whom tested positive for the virus. Tragically, just 32 of those recovered.

Dr Meiring has described in detail the morning of little Doctor James' birth after a 'fairly brutal' night shift earlier this month.

'There had been seven deaths in the day and two more overnight,' he said. 'That was my purpose for being in the red zone. 

'Confirming death is one of the least enjoyable aspects of a doctor's responsibility. Here, confirming death is increasingly harrowing. 

'Patients prefer to lie directly on the concrete floor, maybe it is cooler, which then involves continuously washing off not only layers of dust, but dust caked in their own bloody body fluids.'

He added: 'They lie, rigor mortis already setting in, in whatever position they happened to be in prior to passing.

'This particular morning my grim responsibility was thankfully complete. Shortly after this however, an employed Ebola survivor came running out of the suspect ward.

'The eight-month-pregnant lady was no longer pregnant.'

Dressed in personal protective equipment (PPE), Dr Meiring re-entered the high-risk zone and found the young woman, Memunatu Kamara, on the ground under a blanket.

Concealed under the simple piece of fabric was her newborn baby in an increasing puddle of blood.

'With my own heart rate rapidly increasing I was blessed by the imminent arrival of a far more competent national nurse carrying a birthing pack,' he said.

'With some hastily shouted orders over the fence, I scooped up baby and deposited him on to mum. 

'Baby was quiet and a little blue. Now, I had seen on television that if you give them a rather firm rub they start to shriek; which he did right on cue.

'Without any prior experience of what I was about to undertake, I clamped the cord, cut it, delivered the placenta, checked it was all intact, gave her some oxytocin and massaged her tummy.'

Soon the baby was wrapped up, the bleeding stopped and the woman was taken away to be cleaned up.

'The whole experience actually went just as it should have done,' Dr Meiring said. 'Just as it has done for millenia, across the world, thousands upon thousands of times.

'Except this, of course, was not like all those other times because unbeknownst to this little bundle of joy, he had arrived into the world in the middle of an Ebola ward.'

'This is where people believe they come to die, not to be born or to live,' he added.

'His cord was cut by the double-gloved hand of a nervous British medic in a suffocating yellow suit. 

'The reality is that mum was a suspected Ebola patient and if positive, then he was almost certainly positive too.'

After the ordeal, Dr Meiring joked with the mother that she could call the baby James. To his surprise, Memunatu gave her newborn the title of Doctor James Bangura.

Subsequently, both mother and baby tested negative for Ebola and were discharged soon after.

'Having begun his existence in such desperate surroundings you might think that things can only get better,' Mr Meiring added.

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter


 
  • Video
 
 
  • Event calendar
 
 
  • Archive
 
  • Most read
 
  • Find us on Facebook
 
  • Poll
Are you aware that in 2027 medical insurance will become mandatory for all Armenian citizens?
I’m aware, and I'm in favor
I’m not aware, and I'm against
I'm aware, but I'm still undecided
I'm not aware, but in principle I'm in favor
I'm not aware, but in principle I'm against
It doesn't matter to me