Women of Salumber

Here is my experience in the fellowship in Orissa

Let me make an attempt to describe a regular day at JCMB. I come out of the staff quarters in the morning to this view. The verandah always has someone with a pleasant smile shouting a good-natured "GOOD MORNING, MA'AM" to my face. In my first few days here, this threw me off a bit. I used to avoid eye contact with people while walking across a ward in my college hospital, just to avoid greeting them. Now I have gotten used to this and have learned to shout a "GOOD MORNING" that sounds just like theirs right back. On most days, a nurse would have spread out a mat on the floor and would be doing some exercises with the pregnant women to get the baby's head engaged for birth- WITH MUSIC ON. Across the hallway, I would spot one or two women holding onto the window grill and rolling on a birthing ball. The women usually have a family member or a Swasthya Sakhi (meaning 'health friend'- story for another time) by their side. When they are ready to give birth, they are asked to walk to the labour room in the same hallway where they give birth in a position of their choice. Everyone here is well-trained in the art of 'watching and waiting'. Once the baby is out safely and the mother is fine, the duo is shifted back to the labour ward. Someone would be reminding them of the feeding instructions they have already read from the booklet they were given in the third trimester. It's not always this quiet and systematic. Sometimes,there is chaos- an unexpected complication, a bickering mother-in-law, a drunk husband, or hushed whispers of how this is her 'third daughter'! 

Despite all that, this model is unlike anything I have seen before. I love the fact that these women are never isolated from their families and get to have someone familiar by their side throughout the labour process. It is a wonderful thing to not feel alone at such a time. Even though WHO strongly recommends that all pregnant women have access to a companion of choice during labour and childbirth, it is a privilege that few people get to enjoy in our part of the world.

Read about my experiance in KC patty by clicking here.....