Giving birth in the jungles of Myanmar
I am in total awe of these amazing midwives! They are working in a remote mountainous area of Karen State Myanmar and are serving the women of the area with professional, quality and appropriate birthing care. With very little resources they are able to ensure that both mother and baby are provided with the best care possible.
And I am in awe of this incredible mother! We (us women living in the comfort of Australia) have no idea of how much she has had to go through to get to this point in her pregnancy, or of the odds she has beaten to safely deliver her baby.
The birthing experience of many women in Karen State is one of uncertainty and fear. There is a 721 in 100,000 chance of the mother dying during childbirth (compared to 6.4 per 100,000 in Australia) and a 73 in 1,000 chance (compared to 3 per 1,000 in Australia) of the baby dying in its first year of life*. By giving birth at this clinic with these health professional in attendance, this mother and baby’s chance of survival has increased dramatically.
Many women in Karen State live hours or even days walk from a clinic and are not able to attend antenatal visits. This means that many potential high-risk conditions are not detected early – things like twins, placenta previa, high blood pressure and diabetes; and this increases the chance of maternal death. If the women are able to travel to a clinic it is likely that they have had to cross flooded rivers and climb rugged mountains, as well as avoiding areas where there might be landmines or open combat.
As I look at this image, I reflect on my own experiences of giving birth and how different they were from this mother’s. For us in the Australia we have a lot of choice in our birthing experience – where we will deliver (public/private), who will deliver the baby and what kind of birth plan we want. Nowadays even in public hospitals women have their own room, with a comfy bed, a bath and shower, ambient light and music. And our husbands/partners are there to support us and be involved.
This mother’s decision to birth her baby at a remote jungle clinic doesn’t come with all the comforts and privileges we would expect here in Australia, but it does mean that it has increased her and her babies chance of survival by having qualified and caring people to assist her.
The goal of our Maternal and Child Health program is to train a strong core of professional midwives to serve the Karen people in remote areas, and to help set professional standards of maternal health care. This includes the identification and appropriate management of high-risk pregnancy and birth.
*Diagnosis Critical, 2010
Written by Joy Dyer
Joy is the National Administrator for SUSTAIN Projects Myanmar, lives on the Central Coast NSW, and works from her home office.
