Specia C., 17

Chepchumba is a 17-year-old girl living with her parents after her boyfriend abandoned her following her pregnancy while she was still in secondary school. Her father is a small-scale farmer whose modest earnings support the family. They live in a small two-room mud house, fetch water from a stream about 35 minutes away on foot, and share a pit latrine with neighbors. Their home is located along a busy footpath. Despite her challenges, Chepchumba remains an active girl who hopes to return to school and eventually pursue a medical course in college. She presented to the hospital with complaints of labor pains, severe headache for one day accompanied by dizziness, and pain radiating to the back with increasing intensity and frequency. She also reported abnormal vaginal discharge for the past four days and reduced fetal movement. On examination, she was found to have a cervical dilation of 3cm that had remained unchanged for a long time, with no labor progress, and evidence of grade 2 meconium. She was diagnosed with fetal distress, an emergency condition. The medical team promptly recommended an emergency caesarean section. The operation was carried out successfully, and both mother and baby were reported to be stable afterward.

Cheruto underwent a caesarean section after her unborn baby was found to be in fetal distress. The procedure was successful, and both mother and baby were stable afterward. She received IV normal saline, IV 5% dextrose, IV ceftriaxone, IV metronidazole (Flagyl), IV gentamicin, IV paracetamol, and IM tramadol for infection prevention, hydration, and pain management. She responded well to treatment, made a full recovery, and was discharged in stable condition. Follow-up confirmed that both mother and baby are doing well.

Fetal distress is an emergency cases requiring agent intervention for the purpose of saving lives of the mother and the baby. If delays occured or late intervention it would have been resulted to complications like serious brain injuries like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and cerebral palsy, developmental delays, seizures, and increased risk of mortality, stillbirth, and severe complications like fetal acidosis and organ dysfunction.