Sloane Metcalf with Kristina, a fistula post-op patient (far right), Beatrice Namaleu, Acti a partnership with the Free ng Director of “Joyful Mot dom From Fistula Founda herhood” organization, whic tion (left) and Margaret May h has recently formed nearby villages to educate o, administrative leader of community leaders about Freedom From Fistula (far childbirth/prenatal care and left). The team visited sma obstetric fistula. ll
Life-Changing Internship Malawi visit teaches ’04 alumna Sloane Metcalf lessons she will never forget Dad, Dear Mom and been in Malawi has l ce en ri pe ex y M kfu I am so than amazing and e. m co en able to that I have be blic hospital I visited the pu for the first time ic maternity clin really can’t find I d t this trip an be it. I though ri sc de to ds or the w I to expect before I knew what e eing all of th arrived, but se ering in real life ff poverty and su say the least. The to at was shocking ject Malawi th ro -P C N U e th the part of with is tied to we are working istula Foundation, F m Freedom From nding to perfor fu es id ov pr which who ies for women critical surger (or sometimes e suffer from on s due to prolonged la u st fi ve even two) these women ha ity of n u labor. Most m m co by their eir th been ostracized by ated against and discrimin nds for their ie families and fr … on ti medical condi
6 •
The Anchor
• fall
2012
The opportunity to travel to Malawi, Africa this summer as part of a University of North Carolina School of Medicine team was, as Sloane Metcalf describes it, a “matter of serendipity.” Metcalf, a GSL ’04 graduate, was about to complete her degree with a major in Spanish and women’s studies. She also spent her four years at UNC on a premed track, and as such had been paired up earlier with Dr. John Thorp, Professor and Director of Women’s Primary Healthcare in the OB-GYN Department at UNC. “Shortly before graduation, I was still shadowing Dr. Thorp on his rounds and one day he just asked, ‘Sloane, do you want to go to Africa?’,” Metcalf explains. “And I said, I’d love to! I had been working as a volunteer doula (birth coach) for the UNC hospital, and I had taken numerous women’s health courses. Another student had backed out, so they had an extra undergraduate spot, and I got it. His wife Joe Carol Thorp, a home health nurse for UNC’s Horizons Perinatal Substance Abuse Program was also going on the team, along with other med students and grad students. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for their thoughtfulness in allowing me to tag along on this trip.” Fistula is a devastating childbirth injury that generally happens to mothers in poor countries who undergo prolonged labor, often without any medical assistance. Essentially, it occurs when a baby’s head repeatedly pushes against a mother’s pelvic bone during labor, creating a fistula or hole between the birth passage and an internal organ. “I was picturing only rural women suffering because of prolonged labor and not getting to a hospital in time,” Metcalf explains. “But actually, the majority of cases are happening in hospitals, which is more alarming, because they are so understaffed with so few nurses who can monitor patients in between OB-GYN visits. There are just not enough resources or staff, but that’s where Freedom From Fistula came in, by helping pay for a UNC doctor to work there year-round at the clinic. It’s been pretty successful. A lot of these women didn’t even know that there were other women like them. But telling them that it is okay, letting them spend time in a recovery room with other women, and offering that