Dr. Besser and a laboring girl in Haiti

Dr. Besser Assists in Haitian Baby's Birth



The reason I posted this video was for a few things. I guess it was in looking at the language used from the doctor in this report. Its very true that this small clip cannot give us a very clear picture of what was going on. However, There were still a few things I noticed.

Dr Besser (whi is an MD and not an OB. I looked him up on Wikipedia) mentions that Sariah had a 'trained midwife', Maritann, there. He says that he thought she was lucky because of that fact. In the end of the clip you can watch the midwife massaging and possibly palpating the girl's belly. I'd be curious to know where the transverse worry stemmed from... yet the doctor says "I was worried about transverse or feet first and that she needed a c-section." He doesn't state the midwife was worried about this, yet again, this is a short clip. We don't know. I did find his asking to touch her kind and appropriate.

Dr Besser then mentions her waters were brown and not clear. 'This could be a sign of infection." Really? Could the mother having gone through a trauma of an earthquake create distress in the baby and cause the baby to pass merconium, dr.? Of course its not a great scenario, there being merconium present but itsn't that more likely due to distress than an infection?

Then he says he emails doctors in the States. Why is that? He just before said she had a trained midwife there. How can a doctor a 1000 miles away really give an on target recommendation? They give a clip from Dr Moritz, located in New York. "Is there a heartbeat? It doesn't look good." What tells him that? The info from Dr. Besser most likely because sitting in NY how can he really make an evidence based call for a girl in Haiti? He can't, can he?

I was actually glad for some 'bells and whistles' of technology for this girl here. The ultrasound worked in her favor telling them that baby was 'in a better position that I thought.' High blood pressure? I'm not surprised either. I'm just glad for her that an unnecessary section was done for suspected mal position.

Dr Besser I'm sure had good intentions for this mother, but he had set out to do a story on "The impact of this quake on pregnant women and newborns." "What I didn't know was that it would unfold before me."

Really? Dr. Besser, don't you think you created some drama here? Possibly? We can't be sure, because we don't havethe whole picture, but I wouldn't be surprised. Made for a good story, this transeverse and breech woory. If she'd just birthed right there with her midwife, with no suspected mal-presentation... not so 'dramatic' to the ABC audience, is it?