I never felt the pangs of isolation until I held a lifeless, breathless baby in my hands!
It was 9:30a.m. Sunday morning. Blet Jaw and I had just arrived at a man’s hut in BYT who had invited us to eat breakfast with his family. Micah had driven back to LKY Friday with the 3 friends who had helped us work on our house. He was coming back to pick up Blet Jaw and I Monday. It was a beautiful and clear day. The sun was reflecting off the small stream and shadows accentuated the mountains which rose close all around us. I was still relishing the the inspirational thoughts of the previous day. The Sabbath Day had been an exceptional blessing to me. I was thanking God.
Suddenly I was brought back to reality when a villager rushed in, saying a lady was pregnant and needed my help. I ran home and grabbed my new, UN-USED OB pack. Blet Jaw and I then made our way to the small hut on the other side of the stream. As we entered, a man asked me if he should go and try to find someone with a truck in WahSueTah, 2-3 kilometers away so we could take the lady to the small clinic towards the west in MedooGlow. I told the man to wait until I checked the woman to see what was going on. It took no time at all to discover the lady was in active labor and the babies’ head was already crowning! No time to waste. I am not a midwife by any stretch of the imagination. I had enjoyed the labor and delivery section of my nurses training, and had delivered 4 babies AGES ago in Nicaragua. Babies were no problem for me to deliver there because those ladies seemed to be strong and deliver rapidly. I only caught what came out like a football. Tying and cutting the cord was about all I had to do – no problem.
Presently I felt so small and inadequate for what was soon to occur. I had studied the book and prepared my pack, but my inexperience in doing deliveries and my knowledge of many complications, were making me nervous. I called for Blet Jaw and the Pastor who were in the next room to please pray. I knelt right there and prayed before spreading out my things. I tried to detect FHT”s (Fetal heart tones) between the contractions, but could not due to the noise of the pot boiling on the fire and children playing in the next room. At one time I heard the slight movement of the baby. I knew this 2nd stage of labor should last up to 2 hours. I prayed it had not been too long already. I encouraged the lady to push. Within 40 mins. without an episiotomy or a tare, a perfect size baby boy was born. The lady was lying on a platform which was one foot higher than the floor, so that made it perfect for the baby to be held lower from the cord. I did just as the book said to stimulate respirations. I was alarmed as the baby was flaccid with only a slight movement of his legs. As I worked to help the baby breath, I realized something was terribly wrong. The cry that I so longed to hear did not come. Franticly I wiped and sucked out the little mouth and nose – still nothing. Resuscitation must begin within one minute. I desperately felt the pangs of isolation at that moment for the first time. We were many difficult kilometers from facilities, equipment and knowledgeable staff, and I had no truck. Cleaning the infant’s face with soap and water I began, mouth to nose-mouth respirations, calling for the men to go and try to find a truck to take mother and baby to the clinic. I had no time to check up on the mother, but the placenta came next with rapid force, covering my skirt and feet with stuff I did not want to be covered with, -determinedly I kept on, pausing occasionally to wipe out the little mouth and turn the baby head down to pat out congestion from the lungs. The cord had turned white and was ready to tie and cut. How does one midwife take care of all these things at one time? I called for Blet Jaw to please prepare to tie the cord with strips of sterile roll gauze. Poor Blet Jaw rose to the occasion, though his usual dark and ruddy appearance had changed to a much lighter hue! He correctly tied and cut the cord according to my instructions and wrapped sterile gauze around the babies’ abdomen to guard against infection from the dirty environment. I felt guilty about the mother who lay unattended. I pressed against her abdomen to reduce the fundas and quickly checked for bleeding. I asked the ladies’ mother to please clean her and tell me if there was much bleeding.
The time was slowly ticking away while I continued resuscitation. The infant had a good heartbeat and occasionally there was a small gasp, but for about 1½ hours I continued while waiting for the sound of a truck motor. Finally the baby began breathing once to 2 given breaths, then every other breath, and finally was breathing on his own! The lungs were badly congested. I handed the baby to Blet Jaw while I fled to our house to change my skirt, (trash it), scrub my legs and feet, drink water and grab my purse. When I returned I asked them to please carry the mother to the truck – she must go. I noticed a great delay at the house we had just left and finally Blet Jaw told me the Mother and Father refused to come. In fact nobody wanted to come! The poor old grandmother got in the bed of the truck reluctantly along with the driver’s wife and we were off. The driver looked anxiously at the baby once in a while and drove very slowly. It took us an hour and half to get to MedoGlow clinic over the rough and rugged road. I often tilted that infant and patted out more mucous from his lungs. His labored breathing continued.
The clinic was closed when we arrived at 2:30 p.m. (Maybe a little later). Nobody was in sight! On our way, we had picked up a little old lady with lacerations on her hands and wrists, along with several other people. I looked about and tried to see if anyone walking around the premises looked like they worked there. Several other patients entered. Someone noticed us and brought in a young man who took the old lady in first. I went to him and asked for oxygen, a Doctor and ambulance to go to Om Koy, a larger town 1 ½ to 2 hours away with a hospital. He put some oxygen on per nasal canula and called a doctor. The doctor had been woken up and appeared quite sleepy when he finally arrived. None of us present could speak much Thai. But he did get an ambulance of sorts to go to Om Koy with the little old lady and the baby. I got it across to the doctor to please get an ambu bag because twice I had to give the baby a few breaths while waiting there. He fiddled with some ambu equipment, but could not figure it out. I noticed that a piece was missing so that would not be an option. The grandmother got in and I placed the infant in her arms. There was no attendant to ride in there with them, just a driver up front. Onlya miracle at the hands of the all knowing all caring God in heaven could sustain life and go with this precious little one. My heart ached as I watched the ambulance slip out of sight.
As Blet Jaw and I waited to return in the truck, he told me that before we left the house in BYT, nobody wanted to go to the hospital. The family and friends did not care about the new baby and thought it easier to bury it. I was shocked, as Karen parents and families always seemed so devoted and in love with their children. I had never seen this type behavior before. Our entire trip home found us in stone silence as we silently prayed, and contrasted our love for this small baby, with the families’ lack of love. Could it be that due to the opium trade, their hearts had become numb and cold? Could it be that even these parents were taking opium? Certainly the love of the One who sees and cares about even a little sparrow that falls, has a greater heartache than I do. He has not yet come into these peoples’ hearts. How privileged I am to be called to work in this place. I see a little more clearly the needs around me and why the devil has worked so relentlessly to keep us away. Truly there is a big job to be done. I am happy that the devil is angry.
I have learned 2 very important lessons from this day. One: Never be in BYT without our truck. Two: Go the extra 4 hours to Meta hospital to the west instead of MeDooGlow.
We had to leave BYT the next day to prepare for our trip to America. The Mother was doing well. Our neighbor told us that he would call as soon as he heard any news about this baby. We still have not heard. God alone knows what is best, and in His calm eternity, He works out His way. As I leave it all in His control, I know it is all for a reason because I was impressed to wait in BYT those 2 extra days, therefore I was there for that delivery. Some wonderful day we shall understand.