Altynai Karakhoishiyeva has applied as an obstetrician-gynecologist in the maternity ward of City Maternity Hospital No. 1 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for 15 years. She will continue to run there when she has become an isolation hospital for mothers suspected of having COVID-19.
In March 2020, when the first instances of COVID-19 were detected in Nur-Sultan and Almaty, WHO’s workplace in Kazakhstan provided critical data to these fitness facilities to help fitness workers. These exercises helped prepare health care providers to provide the most productive care possible and learn the steps to take in case of suspected COVID-19 infections. For 2 days, fitness branch infectious disease specialists exercised city maternity Hospital staff No. 1 on how to protect themselves and others with COVID-19. The purpose of the team was to be informed as much as they could about the new virus using national rules based on WHO recommendations. On March 9, the hospital opened its doors.
“The next day, starting at 6 a.m., we received other people who had been in close contact with COVID-19 cases,” Altynai recalls. “Two days later, we also received pregnant women who were quarantined, many of whom had tested positive for the virus. That day, I participated in 3 births and 1 operation. All the women had COVID-19.”
Altynai said that before the COVID-19 pandemic began, running in the hospital was less difficult and the situations for women giving birth were better. There were enough nurses capable of providing mentally-helping manpower, especially for first-time mothers. With the pandemic, she says that women who run feel more alone with their contractions and pains, which can make them more fearful. She also fears for her and her colleagues.
“When I paint with inflamed patients in the maternity ward, I’m not afraid, but deep down I worry about my circle of relatives and my children. When we locate that the mother giving birth and the newborn are fine, it becomes less difficult to manage my concerns.
For staff, dressing up in protective devices 24 hours a day is very complicated. “Sometimes the mask and respirators cause bruising or redness, and other people are allergic to the material. They also want to be replaced when wet. This is a difficult time for all fitness staff around the world, and we all have the same challenges,” says Altynai.
“Anything can happen in the hospital,” she says, “for example, a woman who in a solid state can suddenly deteriorate. There are also times when you want to act temporarily to save a baby’s life. Despite all this, I enjoy running in the hospital. I think I’m a resilient person, and when I triumph over difficulties, I have the motivation to move on. The pictures are hard, but when a woman takes her baby in her arms and thanks, everything else is forgotten. .