When I was in Alaska, a man come into our naturopathic clinic, he made an appointment to talk to the Doc and I. He was from one of the Korean states (within Korea) and told us that his very pregnant wife was flying in and would I "deliver his baby"? She was due the next day! He paid in cash ( always great) the whole fee. Told us where he and her were going to live. For some reason I took her- she apparently had no medical problems, and even brought her chart and he translated it for us. They had a prev male child who had no complications with his birth. Quick and easy.
The next day he brought her into meet me. She was all of 4'7", she was dressed all in black and in her baggy clothes you couldn't tell she she was preg. I'm sure that helped when she flew from Korea. She knew no English and I knew no Korean. I had to go buy a translation book ( I now have many of these) so we could possibly talk. However, as I learned later she didn't talk to me at all, and barely looked at me. I did a quick prenatal on her and drew a prenatal profile so at least I would know her blood type/group, anemia, platelets. Baby was head down and LOA, fht were great. She didn't have a sono in Korea so we didn't know what sex this baby was.
Luckily I lived a few blocks of where they were living and several days later when dad called I went right over, because he gave me very little info. I went to an apt, with no furniture and a thin, thin futon in the middle of a bedroom floor. Apparently there were 9 other people that lived there, but you couldn't even tell there was one person there. The door was left open, so I went to find her.
I found her huddled in the corner with the same clothes she had had on several days before. Every time I went near her, she just glared at me. She wouldn't talk to me.
I found a 17yr old young man in the building who was Korean who agreed to help translate. He sat outside of her door so he couldn't see her and she couldn't see him. She did talk a few words several times to him though. She was mad at me for not giving her something for pain, like her village mountain midwife had with the last child.
I just watched her for signs of pushing, as she showed no signs she was in labor, but every once in a while she would have a flash of discomfort on her face.
Pretty soon she started making the little catch in her voice that signaled she was ready to push. She quickly laid down on this tiny futon in the middle of the room, ( I had kept all of my things out of her room so I wouldn't scare her anymore than she seemed to be) and I grabbed several things I needed and put them in my pocket. She pushed quickly, but you could she she was sweating as she still had all her clothes on. My heart went out to her as I knew she was working as hard as she could. She wouldn't let me listen to the baby to whole time (3 hr labor). But she now motioned to me where a hole in her clothing was. I gently parted her legs and I see a crowning of the biggest shock of black hair I've ever seen. I looked at her and she looked at me and I breathed with her to show her to slow down. Gently the baby came out. Because she had her clothes on, I laid a fresh towel on her belly/breast and placed the baby on her. She didn't put her arms around this new little BOY, she couldn't see what the baby was because there was a short cord. I would nicely grab her hands to put on baby, but she would drop them back to her sides. I'm thinking this is weird, the young man went to call her husband at work, so I don't have any way of communication with her other than pantomime her holding the baby. She just laid there staring at the ceiling. So, I gently rubbed baby and talked to him quietly. It was in the 90's that day so the room was hot to begin with but I finally placed a thin blanket over him. She still acted the same way. I tried to show her she could nurse him, but got the same response at looking at the ceiling.
I did vitals on him and her, they were both just fine. Basically no bleeding for mom. Several hours later her husband came home from his job ( a cook at a Korean restaurant). He got himself straighten and washed to meet her and this baby.
He finally came in and looked under the blanket declared it was a boy, and then she made a big smile and enveloped her baby BOY in her arms and gently talked to him.
She still offered him no breast, but the teenager made the baby a bottle of rice water that she had prepared.
Odd but what ever.
It was then that I realized that I had no business making a judgement about how a person should react. When I later talked to the teenager he said that in their village that is exactly how things go. Who was I to think she was doing it wrong, It seemed to be what they expected as far as births. The husband thanked me and gave me more money I tried to refuse, but he insisted.
I went back there several times to do postpartum and newborn exams.
She was happy to see me?
She now agreed to use the translation book. When I came in the following day to see her, she had the baby all wrapped up in TONS of blankets in the middle of the floor.
She was however she was breastfeeding her 4 yr old BOY
I later found out that in her village they continued nursing their boy children to an older age,
but they didn't believe that "the baby's milk came in for 4 days".
So she feed the baby the rice water for 4 days, then switched to breast.
I then was asked to do a whole community of Korean families births.
I'm still learning about people
Thanks for reading
The next day he brought her into meet me. She was all of 4'7", she was dressed all in black and in her baggy clothes you couldn't tell she she was preg. I'm sure that helped when she flew from Korea. She knew no English and I knew no Korean. I had to go buy a translation book ( I now have many of these) so we could possibly talk. However, as I learned later she didn't talk to me at all, and barely looked at me. I did a quick prenatal on her and drew a prenatal profile so at least I would know her blood type/group, anemia, platelets. Baby was head down and LOA, fht were great. She didn't have a sono in Korea so we didn't know what sex this baby was.
Luckily I lived a few blocks of where they were living and several days later when dad called I went right over, because he gave me very little info. I went to an apt, with no furniture and a thin, thin futon in the middle of a bedroom floor. Apparently there were 9 other people that lived there, but you couldn't even tell there was one person there. The door was left open, so I went to find her.
I found her huddled in the corner with the same clothes she had had on several days before. Every time I went near her, she just glared at me. She wouldn't talk to me.
I found a 17yr old young man in the building who was Korean who agreed to help translate. He sat outside of her door so he couldn't see her and she couldn't see him. She did talk a few words several times to him though. She was mad at me for not giving her something for pain, like her village mountain midwife had with the last child.
I just watched her for signs of pushing, as she showed no signs she was in labor, but every once in a while she would have a flash of discomfort on her face.
Pretty soon she started making the little catch in her voice that signaled she was ready to push. She quickly laid down on this tiny futon in the middle of the room, ( I had kept all of my things out of her room so I wouldn't scare her anymore than she seemed to be) and I grabbed several things I needed and put them in my pocket. She pushed quickly, but you could she she was sweating as she still had all her clothes on. My heart went out to her as I knew she was working as hard as she could. She wouldn't let me listen to the baby to whole time (3 hr labor). But she now motioned to me where a hole in her clothing was. I gently parted her legs and I see a crowning of the biggest shock of black hair I've ever seen. I looked at her and she looked at me and I breathed with her to show her to slow down. Gently the baby came out. Because she had her clothes on, I laid a fresh towel on her belly/breast and placed the baby on her. She didn't put her arms around this new little BOY, she couldn't see what the baby was because there was a short cord. I would nicely grab her hands to put on baby, but she would drop them back to her sides. I'm thinking this is weird, the young man went to call her husband at work, so I don't have any way of communication with her other than pantomime her holding the baby. She just laid there staring at the ceiling. So, I gently rubbed baby and talked to him quietly. It was in the 90's that day so the room was hot to begin with but I finally placed a thin blanket over him. She still acted the same way. I tried to show her she could nurse him, but got the same response at looking at the ceiling.
I did vitals on him and her, they were both just fine. Basically no bleeding for mom. Several hours later her husband came home from his job ( a cook at a Korean restaurant). He got himself straighten and washed to meet her and this baby.
He finally came in and looked under the blanket declared it was a boy, and then she made a big smile and enveloped her baby BOY in her arms and gently talked to him.
She still offered him no breast, but the teenager made the baby a bottle of rice water that she had prepared.
Odd but what ever.
It was then that I realized that I had no business making a judgement about how a person should react. When I later talked to the teenager he said that in their village that is exactly how things go. Who was I to think she was doing it wrong, It seemed to be what they expected as far as births. The husband thanked me and gave me more money I tried to refuse, but he insisted.
I went back there several times to do postpartum and newborn exams.
She was happy to see me?
She now agreed to use the translation book. When I came in the following day to see her, she had the baby all wrapped up in TONS of blankets in the middle of the floor.
She was however she was breastfeeding her 4 yr old BOY
I later found out that in her village they continued nursing their boy children to an older age,
but they didn't believe that "the baby's milk came in for 4 days".
So she feed the baby the rice water for 4 days, then switched to breast.
I then was asked to do a whole community of Korean families births.
I'm still learning about people
Thanks for reading
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