Young, single and... WHAT? DELIVERED?!

On Monday, after her appointment at the O&G clinic, Sharifah called to inform me that she is supposed to be warded on 14th June and her op to deliver the baby is on 15th June. Her due date of delivery is 28th June but operations are usually scheduled 2 weeks earlier.

Her appointment at the HIV clinic is this morning and since my voluntary duty is also this morning, I promised to pick her up at the flats and we'd go together to the hospital.

Puan Nur had gone home on Monday night and was thinking of coming again to Ipoh when Sharifah delivers in 2 weeks time. I myself thought I'd probably visit Sharifah every day nearer to the due date, in case she needed to be warded earlier.

My initial plan for today was to pick Sharifah at the flats, go to the hospital, then have lunch together before I send her back to the flats.

But in the wee hours of the morning, at 2.40 am to be exact, my handphone rang. It was the dreaded James Bond ringtone - my PLHIV assigned ringtone. Alamak... not a good sign...

With my blurry "baru bangun tidur" vision, and without my reading glasses on, I couldn't really see the name appearing, but based on the length of characters appearing, I figured the call was from Sharifah. That worried me even more.

"Kak, sakit kak. Ayaq pun dah keluaq ni. Macam mana nak buat?"

Definitely it wasn't a good sign. Here's a 19 year old HIV positive pregnant girl, alone in a flat not familiar to her and as such she doesn't know any neighbours to seek help from. The thought of her possibly giving birth at home alone is a cause for concern. Amma ilek, appa oso ilek. She didn't have anyone in Ipoh but me.

So yeah, without even washing my face, I just grabbed and simply wore my jubah and tudung over my sleep clothes, and quietly sneaked out of the house so as not to wake my mother who was sleeping in the next room. The worrier that she is, if she was awake when I went out at such an ungodly hour, she wouldn't be able to sleep until I got back. Thank goodness she was sound asleep and didn't notice that her daughter went missing for a while.

Driving at such hour, and in Ipoh some more, was a breeze. I went to fetch Sharifah (thank goodness the flat she's staying in is on the ground floor) and by 3 am we were already at the delivery hall. I was asked to wait outside, together with some eager daddy-to-be's. Some were even there since afternoon. I figured there was no point for me to wait. I had after all, left her in good hands. I went back in, asked Sharifah for the keys to the flat (in case I needed to take anything from there later) and told her I'd go back first. Then off I went home to continue my sleep.

At 6.30 am, I SMSed Sharifah asking about her progress. She said the doctor had seen her and told her that she may need to be operated this morning. After a few minutes, she called. She asked if I could come take her things (her purse, handphone etc) as there is nobody to look after her things when she goes into the operation theatre. I told her I'd get her things when I go to the hospital later for my clinic duty. Sharifah also asked for my favour to call her mom. I called Puan Nur immediately.

Before going to the hospital again this morning, I stopped by the flats to switch off the lights and check whatever else necessary. Then off I went to the hospital, got a parking which so happened to be nearer to the maternity building, so I decided to go the the delivery hall first, to get Sharifah's things, and to ask for her status. I got her things without a problem, they didn't even ask who I was. When I was told Sharifah was still in the delivery room, I asked what time would her op be. To my surprise, the nurse told me maybe she didn't need to go for op. "But she has HIV", I argued. "Ya, tapi doktor pakar kata tak payah, tak apa lah," answered the nurse. At that time, it was already 9 am. I didn't really believe the nurse.

Then off I went for my clinic duty. I immediately told SN that Sharifah wouldn't be coming for the HIV clinic appointment as she was already at the delivery hall. SN then told me about an HIV positive lady who wanted a baby soooo much who asked if anyone wanted to give away their baby. She didn't care if the baby is positive or negative, she just wanted a baby so much. I told SN I'd have to discuss again with Sharifah's family and then talk to the lady who had earlier offered to take care of the baby.

After my clinic duty, I went down to the delivery hall to enquire on Sharifah's status again. A more senior nurse who saw me earlier and had already recognised my face told me that Sharifah had delivered a baby - NORMAL DELIVERY.

"Hah? Tapi dia ada HIV." Again, I argued. No confidentiality issues as Sharifah's records there already show she is HIV positive.

"Ya lah, tapi sudah deliver normal," answered the nurse.

"Sharifah, the 19 year old girl?" I asked again just to be sure we weren't talking about different people.

"Yes!" Answered the nurse, lucky thing she didn't scold me...

Sharifah was then still in the delivery room, so I didn't go in to see her. I went up again to the HIV clinic to see SN to tell her that Sharifah had delivered. Who knows, maybe I wasn't aware that it is okay now to let the HIV positive mothers to deliver their babies via normal delivery. But SN herself was surprised when I told her about the normal delivery.

"Kenapa pulak normal delivery?" asked SN.

"Manalah saya tau? Saya hantar tadi pukul 3 pagi. Pukul 9 tadi belum ada apa-apa tapi dia orang kata mungkin nak buat normal delivery," I said.

SN then conveyed the matter to the doctor on duty at the HIV clinic. The doctor asked if a date had already been fixed for Sharifah's delivery. After telling her that the due date is 15th June, and after explaining a few more things, in the end the doctor could only say, "What can we do now anyway? Already delivered what?"

Which is true, really. Already delivered, what else could I, or anyone else for that matter, do?

It was already lunch time, so I drove home, feeling somewhat frustrated that after going through the trouble of sending the girl to the hospital at 3 am, she still delivered via normal delivery. But I guess, it was meant to be. All I can do now is pray that the baby is not infected.

Will visit Sharifah again later today, and maybe pass back her handphone to her, in case she needed to call anybody.

More updates later.