Dr. An Na is a gynaecologist from Beijing, she joined MSF in 2011 and joined MSF missions in many countries. She is currently working with MSF in Afghanistan.
“If there were no MSF, more mothers and their children, who should blossom like flowers, would have died.”
AN Na: Saving blossoming lives
“If there were no MSF, more mothers and their children, who should blossom like flowers, would have died.” Dr. AN Na, a Chinese gynaecologist, joined Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 2011 and celebrated her 30th birthday during her first mission in Sierra Leone.
On the day she turned 30, a woman of the same age was sent to the hospital. The case was common among pregnant women in Sierra Leone – the placenta was torn and she had severe bleeding. The baby would be stillborn. And the complication was that her blood was not coagulating.
AN Na immediately performed intravenous infusion to encourage blood coagulation and blood transfusion. Apart from the patient’s moaning and the beeping sound of the monitoring equipment, the labour room was as silent as the grave because the whole medical team knew what would happen next. The woman had left it far too long to come to the hospital. At last, the mother faded away quietly. The flowing blood became her last sign of life.
“In many other countries, a 30-years-old woman could live a totally different life. She could have a romantic love story, could have a lovely family and healthy children, could have a job with a decent salary. But here, a 30-year-old lady here is a mother of two kids with no income or food, and she can die so easily. Sometimes reality is too cruel to be accepted.”
Even though An Na feels frustrated and helpless, she would cheer herself up as she determines to help more women and children via MSF. After the first mission, An Na joined MSF missions in Pakistan, Somaliland, and currently Afghanistan, to provide maternal healthcare to the locals.
Source and Photo: Médecins Sans Frontières Hong Kong
