The Stork, Really??? (Medicine Training Thread)

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

2nd Day of Summer 510 AV Taithrosa walked into the class room ready for a new season of learning. He had actually opted for a different type of class today. He was joining a class full of woman actually, but that wasn't all that odd in Mura. It was the subjest matter of the class that drew some stairs. The tall Akalak stood out among the Konti and human woman who had joined the class. There weren't many, but that wouldn't have made a differences. The seven foot tall blue skinned man would have stood out what ever the size of the class. They were all there to learn about childbirth. Taithrosa understood that for him to walk into the class was odd, but he also understood that if he was going to help the Akalaks restore there lost population and help increase the amount of live births he would need to be a master of this part of medicine. Despite the nature of birth it wasn’t something that when left alone would just take care of itself. Simple skills and knowledge were needed to help increase the chances for the babies birth, and the survival of the mother. From conversations he had had in Riverfall he knew that few there actually understood the female form and birth beyond the very basics. He did remember that there had been great studies into the topic in the old healers college back in Valkahal. So he took a seat, selecting one to the side of the room but near the middle. He would have preferred to sit in the front but with his height that would have made it impossible for others to see. Luckily there were more desk then students. He looked up as his professor walked into the room. It was Kanis Obvala again, the teacher of medicine in the school. She looked around the room blinked when she say the large Akalak in the room. Taithrosa just smiled and didn’t say anything as the class started. “These lessons are fairly basic but very specialized. Some people will learn only the midwifery arts and never go on to serve as a healer in other fields. Others will gain only a passing knowledge of them. These lessons are the basic introductions of what you will need to know in order to help woman successfully deliver babies.” She looked at them all, at this point not particularly worried that she had an Akalak sitting in the room. Taithrosa opened his notebook as the class was clearly about to start.

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

Taithrosa waited as the lessons began. He could still feel the occasional glance his way but he ignored them and focused instead on the lesson being taught. The woman at the front cleared her throat and began the lesson. "To begin with you need to have an understanding of how the female body works pre pregnancy. I would normally not spend a lot of time on this subject as my classes are normally familiar with the subject, but given that we are privalaged to have a male in attendance I will be going into some repetative details, so please bear with my ladies if I repeat stuff your mother told you." The class all did look at him at this point and he blinked and looked back. It was difficult to try and meet that many eyes at onces. He gave a half smile and looked at the instructor. She gave him a smile that was welcoming before returning to the lesson. "As you all know men and women are built very different." She began to go into the lesson on the specific structure of orgens located in females gential areas. Of note most females were build basically the same way in this regards. From there she began to talke about the female fertility cycle. Taithrosa understood that woman had a time of the month but as Kanis Obvala had said, his mother hadn't ever explained to him how it worked. But then again oceans weren't very talkative, and given they way he was born, proble not a good sources of information any ways. The explanation was simple really. A woman would release an egg, as well as the necissary hormons. The egg would travel down to the utterius were it would remain for a period of time. If after a period of time it hadn't been implanted then it would be washed out of the system. This was part of what Taith vaguly understood as the time of the month. "Now for some women this time period is one of pain and trials. For others they don't even really notice it. Each woman will be different. That is one thing about womans fertility and prenancy and even delievery, there is not such thing as by the book or normal. Never try to crame them into any type of mold. Except that there will be differences." "That word brings us to a point that now must be made about womans menstration. All the races have different time tables." She said and walked to a chalk board. "Humans have the most consistant and regular, as to kelvics. Human woman have a cycle onces about even 21 days as a race. Individuals may have them less often, but as a race they have them once a moon cycle. Kelvics cycles will depend upon on the cycles of there animal form, but still the same, if they have it in winter then they will always have it in winter and so on." She drew a line showing that counting. "With some human woman you could set the calanders to there cycles they are that exact. Not many but you will find them. Other races aren't that exact. Konti don't have theres as often as humans. This is what sometimes makes it for difficult for konti to determine if they are preganat. More on that in a moment." She looked at the back. "Well the chim has passed. Please return tomorrow and we will contiune our lessons."

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

Taithrosa returned the following day, early so that he wouldn't have to walk in front of the whole class again. A couple women were already there but they didn't seem to particular care about the blue skinned man who had arrived. Taking the same seat he waited as others began to arrive. Some seemed not to care anymore that he was here, while others still staired at him as he sat quietly at his desk. So it was that his book was opened and his quill at the ready when Kanis Obvala walked into the room. She smiled warmly at the class and then got down to buisness. "Alright everyone, yesterday we covered the basics of a womans fertilty cycle. Next we will cover fertilization.” She said very calmly. She gave them all a humors look and said. “I am sure we all understand the basics of how procreation occurs gets started.” She looked around with a raised eyebrow, and when now one showed any confusion she smiled again and continued. With that she began the explanation of fertilization. How the seed and the egg would join and how this was the most difficult time for any new mother. She needed to keep a careful balance of activates at this time. Anything to extreme could hurt the baby, but she made a very serious point about activity during pregnancy. “The expecting mother, must move, unless the child is clearly in some type of danger. She must exercise and make her body stronger for the coming birth.” At this point she paused and looked at Taithrosa. “I assume you are here to help woman bear Akalak sons?” She asked pointedly. “That and because this is one of the corner stones to medicine.” Taith replied honestly. “Here is a good example. If a woman is expecting an Akalak son she will have to carry that child for two years, and when born, all Akalak sons are large. A konti given its own natural cycles has less issues with this, but a human woman is a different story. The birth will still be difficult, and if you have bed ridden the mother for months her body will be at the weakest it has ever been, at the very moment she needs it the strongest. From day one, have her do simple things like take a walk every day. Certain stretches are also helpful and they will strengthen the muscles.” Eventually she returned to the subject of the lesson. There were many folk lores about how best to become pregnant, from certain position to eating certain fruits. She covered some of these but turned instead to what they understood of the actual science of the matter. Once she had finished she excused the class.

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

The large Akalak was again among the first to join the class that was being taught in the Opal Temple. His large frame filled the chair, but he didn't seem to mind. He enjoyed the act of learning again. It was a simple pleasure that he was sure had always been a part of him. Memories of various times seemed to flood his memory. His silver eyes took on a lost and distant look as he remembered back to his old days. His body relaxed as his face took on a distant look.

His his mind he had a flash of himself sitting at a desk admist a group of boys, the teacher lecturing, as they took notes and tried to follow along, the the memory changed and now he was working with a healing woman in her cottage helping to bandage a cut that a local wood cutter had taken. And so the memories flashed before his minbds eye as he waited for the class to start. Little of it made sences, but Taithrosa began to understand that this calling to healing wasn't just unique to this excistance but to others he had lived before.

His mind returned to the hear and now to discover that the konti woman was starting class. He straighhed and opened his note book to begin learning more about pregnancy and childbirth. The woman began the lesson in her blunt straight forward manor. Taithrosa didn't particularlly mind since it made the lesson clear and precies.

They were begining to learn about the first stage of pregnancy. He quickly wrote in his note book about the changes that occured. The truths and myths behind morning sickness. Which was basically every woman was different and would react differently. Their were some common helps to dealing with that condition. The lesson contiuned farther then just the changes that occured and what a healer would need to keep and eye out for. There were the other dangerous of miscarriages at this stage.

"This is the most dangerous stage for the unborn child. Outside of birth itself." She said in her clear voice. "The child is at its weekest, and unfortantly there is liitle that can be done besides prayers. We have some herbs that can make the mother stronger, and hopefully the child, but beyond that there isn't much." She paused to let the write before contiuning. She then explained how you could know if a woman had misscarried. Taithrosa listened to all of it, some of the description specific, but he was dedicated to learning the healers art.

So it was that with that they ended that days lessons.

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

The lessons for the next day was about the middle term of pregnancy. Taithrosa listened intently as the lesson began sitting once again at the desk he had choosen. "The middle period of Pregnancy is one of change. The mother will begin to feel kicking, and hiccups." His instructor said. "Keep in mind that when I refer to the middle period of pregnancy that you can't really define a set period of time since different races have different gestation periods. Humans are nine months, akalak children are much longer. So always keep that in mind different gestation periods." She paused and looked around. "Keeping in mind how long this takes will also help you when suggeting diet and exerices for your paticents." She said with a nodd. "Really there isn't much at this point but to wait." She said with shrug. "There are some things to watch out for at this stage." While a clamer stage she explained about complications that could occure. She proceed to list the signs that would tell you of a complication. Blood flow was a part of everyone of them, and bed rest was part of every solution that she explained. "Remember that this isn't like a broken bone, we can prescribe these tea's and send out paticent to bed, but they might not work always remember that."

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

"We have come to the final stages of pregnancy and will move on into labor which will take a while to cover." Kanis Obvala said as they started class. "You paticent will begin to loss there paticents at this point. This stage can seem the longest and most frustrating. Mothers have reached their largest size, its hard to carry that weight, there backs begin to heart, their breasts are preparing to make milk which can some times cause them to hurt. The baby is large enought that they can start kicking ribs and other organs in the body." She said with a serious look on her face. "Basically its a very uncomfortable stage for the expeting mother." "You need to make sure that the mother takes things easy, she is carrying a lot of weight in an area that isn't comfortable, her back will be hurting her, a good rub for her back and her feet will help her, but that is more of the job for her family not so much you as healers." She said with a nodd. "Also sometimes the baby will kick the ribs and get there foot stuck in there. Nothing to worry about the mother usually can just twist a bit and the foot becomes unstuck. Some won't say anything to you others will panic." She smiled. "One of the first women I help was bagging on my door one morning because of a stuck foot, believe me you will have some who will want you to reasure them often that everything is okay and normal. This will also be part of your job. Try to calm them." She contiuned with more explanation of how the breast would contiune to prepare for feeding the baby. She paused for a moment before starting. "One of the biggest occurance here is the start of labor. Most woman will start having false labor a month or maybe more before she actually delivers. She will have pains, rarely anything serious, but uncomfortable or distracting. These are normal and something to keep and eye on. This does introduce us to the most critical and dangerous part of prenancy. Labor."

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

Taithrosa looked up his silver eyes focused on the teacher. This was really the ciritcal part he had wanted to learn about since this was were the Akalak lost both there children and the lives of their woman. He looked up as she began the explanation of how labor started.

Kanis Obvala descriptions were fairly graphic as she explained how the process started. Contracts could start days in advance of the actual labor or just hours before. One had to watch and time them, when the contract were following a pattern thats when you knew the labor was started. She also explained about dialation and how to check for that.

The details went on as the stages of labor were explained. Taithrosa kept notes as it was all explained to him and the rest of the class. There were three stages, the first could last for days, the second stage was when the they would be called.

"The third stage is when all the action begins. The baby will come in earnest and it is also the stage when the mother will usally be the most tired. You will need to be there to help her. Tell her when to push and when not to. Keep in mind at this point that the mother laying on her back might not be the best position." She procedded to explain how laying down was easiest for them as the healer, but not necissarly for the mother.

Taithrosa listened as the lesson contiuned. Some of the others in the classed look a little uncofortable as she spoke, but something in Taithrosa remembered this as she taught it and so he wasn't embarresed and she contiuned to speak in graphic tearms about labor.

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

It was amazing how such an everyday occurance could require so much information. There were babies born every day, and it was true left to there own devices the process would occur with out the help of midwifery, but this knowledge was her to help woman have an easier time at delivery. So it was that the ethaefel took notes with one hand while the elbow of the other rested on the desk so that his chin could rest in his palm. His eyes glanced back and forth between the page and his instructor.

The lessoned contiuned as the began to talk about crowning. "Crowning is both a relief and danger. It is an idicator that things are finishing, but at the same time you can't let it cause you to rush, you still need to take things at the speed of your paticent." She contiuned to explain about this last part of delivery.

"The head will come out and you need to support the head and the neck since the baby has no support." She said showing them by cupping her hand. "Normally a child will come out head first, but sometime they come out the other way." Breach was the tearm and when a breach birth occured things always become more complicated. She explained the process needed to delivery a baby at this stage.

"Now once the head come out the mothers body will naturally finish pushing and you can pull the baby out with the next contraction. At this point you also need to take care of the ambilical cord."

There were many dangers with this part, in a normal birth you just needed to trim the cord and then tie off the end, sometime thought the cord would find its way around the kneck of the baby, and could strangle the baby. Taithrosa paid special attention towards this part of the lecture taking detailed notes as she spoke.

"We have run out of time for today, tomorrow we will finish the afterbirth."

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

After birthing; it was a statement that had cause the Ethaefel to wonder after departing class. So it was that he walked into class again. By now none of the other students were surprised to see him walking into class. As he took his seat for the day he did silently wish again that the konti weren't such small woman. He pulled out his note book and set it down to and tapped the desk as he looked over his notes from the previous classes.

Kanis walked in after the last of the class had taken their seats. She motioned for them take out there notebooks. "Alright class, I promised that we would talk about the after birth today. Yes the baby has been born but that doesn't mean that everything is finished. The plasenta still needs to come out. This is what is at the other end of the coard. It can some times come out right away or it might take it a while before it comes out." Apparently sometimes it only came out in partials. "Different peoples will react differently to this. With some people it just gets thrown away, with others they feel that it is sacred."

She paused. "This is were the greatest danger to comes to the mother. She will bleed to some extent for a while, but it should slow. Its when it doesn't slow that the mother is having issues and in serious danger." She explained some of the methods used to try and slow the bleeding.

The lesson then moved on to taking care of everything after the birth. This ranged from sewing up the mother if she happened to tare, to taking care of the baby in its first moments of life.

"If the baby is put straight way onto the mothers stomach the baby will eventually make it way up the mother and begin to feed. Oh course you can always just hand the baby to the mother to feed." That led to the subject of breast feeding and how to teach the new mother.

As the class finished Taithrosa finished the last of his notes. He stood up and said good bye to Kanis before leaving the room.

[Growl]

Appreciation Time! Name: Taith Experience: +3 Anatomy, +5 Medicine Lore: Sticking out like a sore Thumb, Attending a class on Childbirth, (Basic) Kanis Obvala, Stages of a Pregnancy, Childbirth 101, The Afterbirth Additional Notes: Quite detailed, just be careful, and try to read over your posts, there were a number of typos. I gave both medicine and anatomy because I think you crossed over a lot. Overall, it was a great thread, keep up the good work! Feel free to pm me with questions and concerns.