Rhythm of Africa: 3rd day of internship "Delivering a baby" (June 28)

Who would think that I would help a 20 year old mother to deliver her baby?

Today, I went into maternity to shadow nurses there. There were only 2 nurses and a midwife, who replaces a doctor in the surgery room. The surgery room actually really clean and it seemed it had everything that's needed to deliver a baby. It was just missing up-to-date devices/machines and was little less hygenic compare to the condtion of surgery room in the states. When I walked into the surgery room in the morning, there was a patient on the bed with a baby in the incubator. The nurse told me that women just gave a birth to a baby an hour ago and that she is just resting there until she feels better.

The nurse told me that they usually deliver 3-4 babies in average but there are some days with no patients too. There was nothing I could do but to sit and wait for patients to show up. We sat there doing nothing for almost 3 hours when a 20 year old soon-to-be-a-mother walked in. The girl was screaming and singing a song in Wolof (it may have been a prayer.....who knows...).

Her water was already broke and the nurse told me to help her get on the bed with the gloves on. The nurse made the patient to spread her legs so she can check how dilated the vagina was. I was really shocked to witness all that and tried to step back when the nurse caught my hand and told me to check for myself. I told her that I'm not a doctor or a medical student and that I'm just there to shadow nurses.. and clearly she didn't get it because I spoke in English when she can't speak any. She held my hand and forced it into the patient's vagina. When I did, the girl started screaming even louder so I had to take my hand out. The nurse told me that the girl is ready to give birth and told me to help her walk to the delivery room.
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Yes.. I saw everything...
............and all I can think of at the moment was that I don't want to have baby in my life. But then again, the pain didn't last long for her since she stopped screaming and passed out as soon as the baby's shoulder was out. She even smailed when the nurse showed her the baby. I guess I'll never find out til I'm in that position:)
When the baby was out, the nurse told me to cut the umbilical cord..but I just couldn't do it. I didn't know how and I wasn't ready for it...most importantly, I didn't want to ruin the day by making a mistake.
This three day internship motivate me to learn foreign language and also to do volunteerings as much as I can. Hope this experience was worth it to motivate and encourage me in preparing for the future!