Where do I start!?!
I travelled from Melbourne to Cambodia with a 7 month old, all on my own! And for someone is is such a cowardly lion about most things, I think I have done ok!
I was picked up at the airport after a long overnight flight with Myah. After leaving the wintery 9 degrees weather in Melbourne, Myah and I still are working out how to deal with this 32 degrees sticky hot heat! Sleeping right next to a fan helps!
Ive been introduced to the staff, they are all gorgeous and friendly, particularly the elder midwife
Chong Nai Hy, who lived through the devastating Pol Pot times. She is also willing to learn new ways of being with women, with treating women with different remedies and is fascinated in what us 'birang' (westerners) do in birth. Denise is wanting to bring the idea of water birth and delayed cord clamping here, but it is one step at a time, as birth in such a way here is unknown.
Generally what happens is that a woman will come to hospital when she is labouring and will be examined. If she is in early labour, which basically means until her waters break or she starts pushing, then she will just wait in the waiting area with the other women who are in the same boat as her. Once she is called into the other room, she is on the small half bed with stirrups and directed to push until the baby is out. Cord clamped and cut immediately and then generally a quick cuddle with mum and then baby is on a bed next to mum. It is so hot here, there is not much skin to skin! It is very rare for women here to have breastfeeding problems. They just do it.
What makes the places Denise and Life Options Asia so special is that women are given privacy, respect and kindness. This doesn't happen in any other hospital or health clinic. The women that come here always leave saying that they felt listened to and it makes them feel happy.
So, since I've been here, Ive been to 2 hospitals - the big one in Phnom Penh and one out here in Takeo Province- , as well as the places I am volunteering with Life Options with - the Women's Health Clinic (which is where I live, well just across the road) and to the Birth Centre which officially opens on Saturday!
On quiet days I am hoping to do Education Sessions with the midwives here. Rachael has already done a few, one was about using garlic vaginally to treat different infections. The women here are poor and we are offering a free service and want to be able to give them remedies to use that is affordable to them. I had a short chat yesterday about lotus birth, but would like to talk about it more if they are open to it. There were lots of giggles and a few questions. One of them was worried about the salt I talked about to salt the placenta with, would travel up the umbilical cord and enter the baby. Another asked how many days it takes for the cord to fall off and what happens with the smell :) They are all willing to learn and listen. It is just one small step at a time. And as I am often reminded by my 9 year old, "how do you eat an elephant?" "one bite at a time"
Tomorrow I will be going to the village which I believe is 1 and a half hour by car and is very very remote. There is another health and birth centre there and a school.
Oh, there is so much to say, I am probably just rambling. Before I go though, I wanted to say that all the undies and pads were sorted out by Rachael and I into little packs. Each women will get 3 pairs of undies and 8 pads after she gives birth. We will distribute these out to the 3 birth centres I am volunteering at :) The women are ecstatic and so grateful for what we sisters in Australia have given them
