Covid pandemic is an unforgettable experience in my life. It has made me realize that our life is held by a very delicate thread which can only be strengthened by joining other threads to it . it has taught me that a collective effort is the answer to most problems . The year has fatigued the doctors physically and mentally . It is being there for each other which has kept us going ,for example when a friend of ours had corona she had no help so we in hospital made a roster to send her meals for 15 days .When my family including me had corona ,all my medicines were sent home,my friends came home to give us injections. Corona has increased our bonding.
I work in a government hospital where covid pregnant women are isolated in a separate ward . Working with pregnant covid patients, seeing their fear about themselves , their lonliness at a time when they needed to be pampered makes me sad . It is heart wrenching when we lose a pregnant lady to corona . The first wave was not so bad but the second wave has really left us shattered with so many women being seriously affected and loss of our own near and dear ones. When we are able to save and cure both mother and child, the joy and feeling of satisfaction is the elixir of our life I try to keep in close contact with my juniors and my heart goes out to these students who are away from their family ,they are worried about their families , about themselves and also they miss the comradeship of spending time together in hostel .
The realisation about fragility of life in corona pandemic has made me more compassionate and now I don’t get impatient when enumerable friends and relatives repeatedly call to enquire about little things I firmly believe that what comes has to go also, so corona will also go and it will go sooner if we maintain corona etiquette of social distancing, hand washing and wearing mask
Dr Achla Batra
Professor Obstetrics and Gynaecology VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi
