When the Backup Generator Is Part of the Birth Plan

power cut during a delivery last week. not the first time. backup generator took four minutes. four minutes is a long time when you're suturing by phone flashlight and trying not to let your hands show fear. baby was fine. mother was fine. i was angry in the way you get angry when fine is the best outcome you can hope for. wrote the incident report. nothing will change. i still went back the next day.

The power cut during delivery last week was not the first time. The backup generator took four minutes to engage. Four minutes is a long time when you are suturing by phone flashlight and trying not to let your hands show fear.

Baby was fine. Mother was fine. I was angry in the specific way you get angry when fine is the best outcome the system allows.

I wrote the incident report in the same handwriting I use for everything else, as though formality could convert hazard into process. Nothing will change. There will be another cut. There will be another flashlight. There will be another night where Nigerian obstetrics runs on improvisation and prayer and the competence of people who were never given enough to work with.

I went back the next day because that is the job. Not because the job is noble. Because women are still arriving, and someone has to be there when the lights go out.

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