Since we have been in Benin, we have had a number of particularly note-worthy cross-cultural experiences, such as my interesting time passing the Beninese driving test. We have also braved the dentist, and now we're venturing into another domain of the medical system. I am pregnant, due mid-November, and so at the end of last month when we were in Parakou we went to see a gynaecologist for a check-up and a scan.
It is a private practice, though I suspect he works at the hospital during the daytime, and so one turns up at 7 in the evening, takes a number, and waits for one's turn! A 2-hour wait in our case! Fortunately someone was babysitting our boys and so we had no worries about time. The waiting room was hot, there was a noisy overhead fan which didn't help much, and a television which showed death notices for a lot of the time we were there.
The gynaecologist was great. He felt like someone you could trust and who knew what he was doing. And the scan was better quality than I had allowed myself to hope for. The long wait was forgotten in the joy of seeing our baby for the first time, waving lazily at us! The gynaecologist was happy with the scan and allowed us to take both photos and a video with our phone! (There was in fact a print-out, but the phone photo was clearer.)
And here he or she is, Baby Deneuf #3:
