Baby Business - More Days At The Hospital

A recent blog entry concerned itself with Udonthani General Hospital. Today's blog will be about Kumphawapi Hospital and will provide more insight into Thai life or more specifically - Isaan life.

Duang's daughter is 8+ months pregnant and is due to deliver in three weeks.

On Saturday she came into Udonthani to have an Ultra-Sound scan. Isaan is different than locations that I have lived in the USA. There are many private places throughout the city where you can go in and have a Ultra-Sound - unless it is a Saturday or Sunday!

Manchester United Football (Soccer) Team has a slogan "You will never walk alone". Their team paraphernalia is very popular over here including apparel with the team slogan. That slogan only needs to be slightly modified to describe life here in Isaan - "You will never be alone". Beside all of Duang's relatives (92 cousins), there is a very strong sense of community in Isaan. These two factors create an atmosphere that is unlike any I have experienced elsewhere.

Duang's daughter, her husband, Duang, Duang's son, his girlfriend, and I all piled into the pickup truck and headed into the city center in search of an Ultra-Sound Clinic. There seems to be an Ultra-Sound Clinic every 5 blocks in the city center. Unfortunately the clinics are not open on the weekend. The clinics have signs written in Thai - a sort of Sanskrit script rather than Roman script that English is written in. Often the signs will be written in green and at times will have a green cross to indicate medical related. As we drove around and around the city in our quest, I developed or thought that I had come to an understanding of what the writing for a clinic looked like. As we went along one street, I looked to the side and saw a clinic. I motioned Duang's son to pull up to the place. As we approached, we realized that the clinic was open, had ultra-sound scanning, but was a veterinary clinic. We all had a good laugh - well everyone except for Duang's daughter. Late term pregnant women don't have the greatest senses of humor. My honest mistake was not mitigated any by Duang's son's continual hysterical laughing. I did point out that ultra sound scanning a dog was the same as scanning a woman and most likely much cheaper. This only encouraged Duang's son to laugh more once she had translated to everyone. The quip did not amuse her daughter.

After wandering around the city for about an hour, we went to one of the private hospitals in Udonthani. We went to the scanning room and everyone was allowed in. The ultra-sound was much better resolution than the ones that I remeber for my sons thirty years ago. We could see ribs and internal organs in addition to counting the number of fingers as well as toes. Oh yeah - the baby is a boy. The cost of the Ultra-Sound scan with report for the doctor was $35 USD.

On Monday morning we got a call that Duang's daughter was in the hospital with pain. I drove Duang to the Kumphawapi Hospital about 25 miles from our home. One of my earlier blogs in August was about the Maternity Ward of this hospital. The parking lot was filled so I dropped Duang off at the front of the hospital and drove off to find a parking spot elsewhere. Duang told me to meet her where we had gone before.

After parking the truck, I went into the neo-natal ward where we had visited before. I entered the ward and walked around looking at every patient to see if she was Duang's daughter. No one seemed to mind me wandering around although it was obvious that most were curious about a falang walking around. After assuring myself that she was not there I walked outside and headed towards the main administration/reception building. On the way, Duang's son-in-law saw me and brought me to the new area where she was.

Duang's daughter was in the labor ward along with three other pregnant women. The ward is very spartan - a sort of first aid type facility for a large industrial plant. The room had concrete walls covered with a sort of plastic paneling riveted on to it. There was a completely exposed nurse's station consisting of two desks, two chairs and one computer set in the ward by the entrance.

There were 10 beds in the labor ward. The beds were rather spartan as well - metal frames with a plywood base with a 3 inch thick foam mattress on top. There were two air conditioning units in the ward that cooled and heated the room. Since it is now cold (63F) at night the units warmed the room. The room also had a single fetal monitoring machine which was being used for one of the other patients.

At one end of the labor room was the birthing suite(?). The birthing suite was a large room that to me resembled a cross between the autopsy rooms shown on TV and a barber shop. The room had three chairs with stirrups in a row - side by side. The room was drab without any semblence of decoration or sense of high technology. I was a little concerned that there were four women in the labor room and only three birthing stations.

Duang's daughter was not in labor and after about two hours she was released with some antacid and some pills.

We returned home and about two hours later received a call that Duang's daughter was back at the hospital. We went back to the hospital with Duang's son and son's girlfriend.

Since it was now night time, people were setting up for the night. Just like Udonthani General Hospital, patient's families camp out at the hospital. Duang's son-in-law and his mother had claimed one of the concrete benches along the outside open aired corridors to spend the night. They had brought some sahts, blankets, and plastic bags with clothes and food for the night. Other people were setting up their spots throughout the complex. This hospital was different from Udonthani General in that there were hospital cats wandering the area.

There were three other women in the labor room. One was hooked up to a fetal monitor machine. Another patient was in advanced labor and was tended by her mother and husband. She was in pain but kept her suffering in silence.

The third patient was in labor and was tended only by her mother. She was in very much pain but like the second patient was fairly quiet.

After awhile, the woman with the fetal monitor was discharged - so now there were three women for three birthing stations. I was more at ease.

We stayed there and gave support to Duang's daughter. She was going to spend the night in the hospital but was not in labor yet. In no time at all we knew the conditions of the other patients and they knew about Duang's daughter. I am continually amazed at the openness and resulting lack of privacy of Isaan society. The people love to talk, chat, and gossip and there are few topics not up for discussion.

We returned to the hospital this morning. Duang's daughter was still in pain but not in labor. She will spend two more days in the hospital.

The biggest news was that the two other women had their babies. We went over to the neo-natal unit to check them out. One woman had a little girl. Since she was a cesarean birth, the baby was not birth molded at all although she was in an incubator. The mother was in a bed about fifteen feet from the incubator which was in the aisle way from the ward entrance across form the nurse's station. The proud grandmother and father were also visiting so Duang got into an involved conversation about the birth.

The other baby was more serious - he was born with a heart defect and had already been transferred some 40 miles south to a specialty hospital. We found all this out from the Grandmother. After awhile the new mother walked out carrying two bags of clothing with her husband. Isaan women are definitely tough. They were going down to see their son at the new hospital.

It is eye opening to see the medical facilities that are available to so many people in the world.

It is also a revelation to see how little care is available to people.

Here in Isaan there is no air of mysticism or invulnerability associated with medicine or medical care. Healing, birthing, and dying are not hidden behind doors in pastel walled, brilliantly lit rooms in the company of strangers.

Injured patients and post operative patients are wheeled along outside aisle ways filled with children, toddlers, and adults of all ages. Doctors, nurses, and cleaning personnel are indistinguishable in their uniforms. Each one has a job to do. Each job being just as important as the other.

Some of this may be attributable to the Buddhist attitude towards life and death ... "The Buddhist spends their entire life preparing for the moment that they know will come - the moment of their death."

In the Wast, many of us spend all our life trying to avoid or deny the moment that will come for all of us. Our faith in our percieved medical capabilities and facilities helps support our efforts.