One thing I've really enjoyed about my project so far is how many people I've been able to talk to about it. Over the past few weeks, I've talked to people interested in maternal health outcomes in Massachusetts, California, and a bunch of places in between. They have taken time out of their days to tell me what they're doing and then listened patiently as I've attempted to summarize what I'm doing this summer. Every phone call has ended with their suggestions: other people to talk to, articles to read, websites to go to, research questions to consider.
One especially cool group of people I talked to was at the Baby Cafe here in El Paso. It's a lactation support center that's run through Texas Tech, and happens to be in a building that I walk by on my way to and from work. One of the women I interviewed last week mentioned that she had gone there in preparation for breastfeeding after her baby is born in a few weeks, and she suggested that I just stop in and hang out there for a bit. So that's what I did on Tuesday afternoon. The women who work there could not have been any nicer; they told me all about what they do, gave me a bag of resources that I can share with the women in my study, and then let me hang out on the super comfortable couches to listen to the types of things women come in for. One of the women that volunteers there actually teaches childbirth classes (in English and Spanish) at one of the hospitals I'm using for my study, and she invited me to sit in on a few. Next week, her topic just happens to be method of delivery, induction, and anesthesia...which conveniently enough are my three main themes for in-depth interviews. So cool :)
However, this week has also been kind of challenging. The IRB at one of the hospitals where the obstetricians I'm working with have privileges is being kind of difficult, which is a little stressful right now because the woman I'm going to interview in a half hour could potentially deliver there any day now. I could always nix the idea of interviewing the women in the hospital and instead interview them at home, but that will be way more complicated. And then I'd have to find a way to talk to the obstetricians elsewhere in a timely enough manner that they can tell me a little bit about the particular patient's labor and delivery.
The other challenge has been working binationally. I was in Juarez again yesterday and the doctor we were supposed to meet with was on vacation (which he didn't mention last week, when we told him we'd be back this Wednesday). We met with another woman instead who suggested that the project become theirs. I didn't really follow what she was talking about, but when I got back in the car I learned that she was insinuating that they could remove Emory and the CDC from the project and make it a collaboration between that particular hospital and the university I've been working with in Juarez. But I would be in charge of training nursing and medical interns on how to do qualitative methods. That wouldn't actually bother me, but the woman I'm working with in Juarez was very unhappy. So now we're only going to use two hospitals on the Mexican side of the border. Granted, they are the two hospitals geographically closest to the bridge that I use, so it'll probably be more convenient in the long run.
I think it's going to take me a while to get used to how the hospitals work in Juarez. I'm still waiting for the list of potential patients from one of the hospitals, and when I mentioned that yesterday, the woman I was with literally said, "Put on a white jacket, show up at the hospital on Monday, and wait until someone gets you the patients you need." Something about that just doesn't sit well with me; I like having appointments scheduled with the people I need to talk to. If only the resident I'm working with there would respond to my emails...
At least it's cool to be working with a lot of people who are 100% binational, bicultural, and bilingual. I have a lot to learn about how to maneuver on both sides of this border, and all of the people I've met are super patient and understanding with the silly gringa graduate student.
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