31 July 2008 Maternity Ward

Thursday 31 July 2008 - Maternity Ward

As we do each Thursday, we purchased groceries and had dinner with Duang's son and his wife.

After shopping we drove to Kumphawapi to visit Duang's daughter in the hospital. She is three months pregnant and has been sick for the past four days. She entered the hospital yesterday and has been on an IV for the past two days. She cannot keep anything down.

Duang's daughter is in an area hospital. I had visited the facility twice before for medical situations with Duang's brother and her son. Duang was treated there for her motorbike accident when I was last in the USA ($83 USD for two days and 1 visit)

The hospital treats the local Thai people - mainly subsistence farmers. There is a large waiting room where you can drink water out of a common tin cup (Not that I would recommend it in an area full of sick people!!) People who are not in desperate need of treatment but still confined to a gurney or catherized and are on a gurney are stored - I mean wait their turn in the corner of the room. There is no air conditioning in the open sided area but there are several floor fans that move the air around. When someone is brought to the hospital it is typically by the family so the waiting area is filled with children, babies, and all sorts of interesting people. I also need to add that they find me, the only foreigner, to be just as interesting.

Tonight we did not have to go into the waiting area. We went into the separate - I assume - OBGYN building. After first removing our shoes, we walked directly into the ward I was the only one with socks everyone else was barefoot. The ward was a large room with 24 beds broken up into 3 bays by 5 foot high concrete walls. The ward was not air condition. Six ceiling mounted oscillating fans (2 of them working) provided ventilation in addition to the two open doors and screened windows. Against the wall on one side of the room was a glass and metal partitioned air conditioned area for the nursing staff.

The ward was busy - there were 7 new borns with their mothers, fathers, grandparents, cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and probably friends too. There were also two older women with GYN problems.

The babies were absolutely great. They ranged from 6 hours to 3 days old. The facility was unlike anything that I had seen in the USA. After checking on Duang's daughter, we wandered around the ward checking out the new babies. People were not defensive and quite happy to share their joy with us. The nursing staff did not mind us walking around admiring the babies. New mothers openly breast fed their babies. There were no security measures or guards.

The six hour old baby was one month premature and was in an incubator just outside the nurse's area. She was a little sweetheart. She was small but very strong. After awhile the nurse came and drew blood from the poor little thing to test her blood sugar. Then the nurse fed her with a small medical syringe essentially an eye dropper. The nurse asked Duang and I questions about us and casually answered all our questions about the baby. It was very natural and relaxed.

Duang and I wandered around and spoke with all the new moms and dads. It was obvious that much of the supportive care to both mothers and babies was being provided by extended family members. At least three new fathers were very involved in taking care of their new families. It was a very pleasing sight.

With this being Isaan, Duang ended up with very animated conversations with just about everyone. The people were all very friendly and curious. Several offered me to hold the new-borns. As much as I was enjoying this freedom that is unprecedented for a US maternity ward, I was uncomfortable in holding a stranger's newborn - although I would have liked to.

One baby had his first poop and his mother was changing him. Duang jumped right in and helped the mother. The woman was very accepting and appreciative. There were no cleaners or wipes involved. The baby was cleaned with toilet paper, cloth diaper, and water from a tin cup to moisten a cloth. It was different from what I am accustomed to but it did the job.

In no time at all we knew who had cesarean births, who were mothers for the first time, who was who among the assembled masses, details about the woman who had a hysterectomy, the woman is is bleeding and will most likely have a hysterectomy.
I was offered two babies to raise. I assume that the people were only joking and being polite. I will not diminish the memories by contemplating other motives.
All in all we spent three hours there. It was unlike any previous experiences that I have had before in maternity wards.

I left amazed at the sense of community and extended family involving the Isaan people. There were strong support groups for the babies and new mothers.

The facility, although not anywhere near the sophistication or cleanliness of US hospitals, seemed to be adequate for the needs of the people. The quality of care provided by the combination of family members and professional staff appeared to be more than adequate.

As I travel and experience different cultures, methods, and processes, I am continually amazed at how little you really NEED to be happy or to survive.
These are definitely reassuring revelations in these unsettled times.

How much anguish as well as turmoil do we cause ourselves by worrying about and being obsessive about those things that we WANT but do not really NEED?