For those of you who are wondering if we are just traveling and not working, I thought I might fill you in on some of what is going on at the WHO (my Monday to Friday job). I have been working with a great group of people who are part of the Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent group. This was previously divided into two groups: Making Pregnancy Safer and the Child and Adolescent group. Although they are officially one, they still function as two units. In the MPS group there are two obstetricians and two neonatologists. There are also several non physicians. I am gradually getting to know them all. They all have a wealth of experience and are a fascinating group of people who work extremely hard. Since I have been here, I have had the opportunity to be involved in the finalization of guidelines for preeclampsia and eclampsia. An amazing group of people from around the world gathered to hash those out. Recently the World Health Assembly met and I managed to take in some of the activities down at the United Nations (just a few minutes from the WHO building). Lots of networking and politics happening there! The job that I have been most involved in however has been the development of a course on normal labour and birth. Until now, much of the emphasis has been on emergency management during labour and birth. Afterall, women are dying because of post partum hemorrhage and preeclampsia and so efforts have gone into dealing with these emergency issues, among others. Care of women during normal labour has fallen by the wayside. Many women still have mobility restricted in labour, are not allowed a companion, receive routine episiotomies and enemas, to name a few. They are also often treated with a lack of respect and in fact there are concerns worldwide about abuse of women in labour. My objective has been to create a CD based interactive course that is geared toward skilled birth attendants, emphasizing evidence based practice to achieve normal birth. Not exactly what one might have thought a high risk specialist would be doing, but it has been eye opening and very exciting. I am the only one working on it at present, so it is my "baby" but it won't be done by the time I leave, so one of the other folks in MPS will have to take it over. Everyone is anxious for me to get as much done as possible before I leave and it may in fact follow me back to Halifax! I have loved having the chance to think about some basic obstetrical problems, and more than anything, it has made me realize how lucky we are in North America. Births are attended by very skilled birth attendants, and women don't fear for their lives as they begin to labour. I hope I remain sympathetic to women with their small complaints when I get back! So, beyond the lovely trips we have made, I have had a great experience at the WHO, which I continue to enjoy!
Heather
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Roman recollections
Before we forget it all, here are some reflections on our four-and-half days in Rome - much too short but glorious nevertheless! We arrived from Athens on Sunday early afternoon and reached the apartment we had rented by mid-afternoon. It was a great place -- the building was about 100 years old but had been nicely renovated and the apartment was very well fitted out. It was in the district of Prati, which is about 10 minutes' walk to the Vatican city and perhaps 40 minutes' walk to the Colosseum. We arrived on North American Mother's Day (turns out the French have their own three weeks later - today!) and had a lovely walk around our neighbourhood followed by a great pizza dinner (go figure).
Prati turned out to be an ideal base -- a short walk across the river to all the main sites of central Rome but with a real neighbourhood feel, including a cappucino bar on every corner and lots of great specialty food stores. We spent our first full day following the suggestion of our guide book that we do the "Roman Holiday" walking tour of the city, to all the places that Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck had frequented in that classic film (which only Heather has seen, but which we are now all looking forward to). These included the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, some great shopping streets, and finally the Colosseum. There was lots in between, and the whole day was pretty amazing. I have no doubt there are dismal parts of Rome (we saw some less inspiring suburbs later in the week), but the central part is quite magical. We were able to retreat to a great pasta dinner at home after a long, tiring day -- the first of four pasta dinners in a row for most of us!
Day Two was the Colosseum, followed by the Forum and the Palatine. The whole week was beautiful weather wise, and this was perhaps our hottest day. As we got up to the upper level, looking down on the site of the gruesome entertainments of almost two millennia ago, Rory said that he wasn't feeling well, then that he couldn't see -- and finally passed out! It didn't take him long to recover, but we all learned a lesson about eating properly, staying hydrated, and keeping ourselves protected from the sun! This was perhaps our longest and most tiring, but also most amazing day. Heather felt that the sites were much more extensive than when she had first seen them, a little while ago (!!!), and it was truly amazing to see the evidence of what these ancients had achieved.
Day Three (Wednesday) started with a trip to the Vatican City. Turns out Wednesday is the day that the Pope has his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square for the faithful (who knew??). So we found ourselves in the square among the thousands of devout followers. Intimidated by the line-ups, we booked a tour that got us into the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and finally St. Peter's Bassilica with some informed guidance from a Spanish-English guide. Definitely a good call. The place was amazing, but absolutely jam packed and much of it would have been lost on us if we'd been left to our own devices. Everyone had their favourite section - the Map room (see picture), the Rooms of Rafael, and of course the Sistine Chapel. We whizzed by all sorts of amazing collections, but were nevertheless left in awe of the remarkable masterpieces that have been amassed there. Later, we found our way to the multi-media "Time Elevator" -- combination video and roller coaster that was supposed to be a particularly exciting (40 minute!) kids-oriented review of 2000 years of Roman history. I think the kids had a good time; I was so queezy from the motion of the seats that I ended up slumped in as close to a reclined position as I could be!
Our final full day we headed out of town to Ostia Anticca - the port of ancient Rome and an amazing site. Having been encased in River silt from the Tiber, the original town site had been extraordinarily well preserved -- almost as impressively as Pompeii, we were told. It was remarkable, once again, to see how incredibly sophisticated Roman architecture, town planning, cultural life, etc. had been. On our way back we routed via the Piazza Popolo (sp??), one of many wonderful ones we saw but perhaps the most beautiful of all.
We had a ridiculously early flight the next day but were sufficiently uplifted by what we had seen that it seemed less painful than it would usually have been. I've left out many details but hopefully given you a sense of why and how we managed to fall in love with this incredible city.
best to all, Dave.
Prati turned out to be an ideal base -- a short walk across the river to all the main sites of central Rome but with a real neighbourhood feel, including a cappucino bar on every corner and lots of great specialty food stores. We spent our first full day following the suggestion of our guide book that we do the "Roman Holiday" walking tour of the city, to all the places that Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck had frequented in that classic film (which only Heather has seen, but which we are now all looking forward to). These included the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, some great shopping streets, and finally the Colosseum. There was lots in between, and the whole day was pretty amazing. I have no doubt there are dismal parts of Rome (we saw some less inspiring suburbs later in the week), but the central part is quite magical. We were able to retreat to a great pasta dinner at home after a long, tiring day -- the first of four pasta dinners in a row for most of us!
Day Two was the Colosseum, followed by the Forum and the Palatine. The whole week was beautiful weather wise, and this was perhaps our hottest day. As we got up to the upper level, looking down on the site of the gruesome entertainments of almost two millennia ago, Rory said that he wasn't feeling well, then that he couldn't see -- and finally passed out! It didn't take him long to recover, but we all learned a lesson about eating properly, staying hydrated, and keeping ourselves protected from the sun! This was perhaps our longest and most tiring, but also most amazing day. Heather felt that the sites were much more extensive than when she had first seen them, a little while ago (!!!), and it was truly amazing to see the evidence of what these ancients had achieved.
Day Three (Wednesday) started with a trip to the Vatican City. Turns out Wednesday is the day that the Pope has his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square for the faithful (who knew??). So we found ourselves in the square among the thousands of devout followers. Intimidated by the line-ups, we booked a tour that got us into the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and finally St. Peter's Bassilica with some informed guidance from a Spanish-English guide. Definitely a good call. The place was amazing, but absolutely jam packed and much of it would have been lost on us if we'd been left to our own devices. Everyone had their favourite section - the Map room (see picture), the Rooms of Rafael, and of course the Sistine Chapel. We whizzed by all sorts of amazing collections, but were nevertheless left in awe of the remarkable masterpieces that have been amassed there. Later, we found our way to the multi-media "Time Elevator" -- combination video and roller coaster that was supposed to be a particularly exciting (40 minute!) kids-oriented review of 2000 years of Roman history. I think the kids had a good time; I was so queezy from the motion of the seats that I ended up slumped in as close to a reclined position as I could be!
Our final full day we headed out of town to Ostia Anticca - the port of ancient Rome and an amazing site. Having been encased in River silt from the Tiber, the original town site had been extraordinarily well preserved -- almost as impressively as Pompeii, we were told. It was remarkable, once again, to see how incredibly sophisticated Roman architecture, town planning, cultural life, etc. had been. On our way back we routed via the Piazza Popolo (sp??), one of many wonderful ones we saw but perhaps the most beautiful of all.
We had a ridiculously early flight the next day but were sufficiently uplifted by what we had seen that it seemed less painful than it would usually have been. I've left out many details but hopefully given you a sense of why and how we managed to fall in love with this incredible city.
best to all, Dave.
I LOVE ROMA!!
Tempio di Saturna (the Palatine); Colosseum (interior and exterior); Museo Vaticana; Fontana di Trevi; St. Peters' at twilight.
Elizabeth :)
Saturday, 14 May 2011
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