Rumpea Meanchey Health Centre

Spent the day traveling from Koh Rong Island to Takeo province to visit rural health centre. Slow boat to Song Saa, speed boat to Sihnoukville, tuk - tuk to taxi rank, taxi to local midwives house in Takeo. Then tuk-tuk to rural health centre.

Hot, hot, hot and dusty. Ricw, rice, rice. Pigs heads, fish heads and chicken spines delicacy.

Staying ontop of someones house, we have electricity and water, but intresting squat toilets remain.

This place is going to eat me up and spit me out if I let it. A grandfather brought in a little 8 year old girl with vaginal bleeding and said an insect had done it. The midwives agree by consensus that she was raped, but nobody says anything and she got sent away will him again. Just looking into her beautiful and dead eyes I almost lost it, I had to go out and breath. We have been told this was the second case of child rape this week.

Awareness is building around child abuse and I have seen posters and stickers on taxis with a number you can call, but of course these are all in English, which is unhelpful as Cambodians speak Kamhir and most cannot read or write.

Waiting room

I love the strength and beauty of the women here, life and death exists hand in hand and spontaneous miscarriage is just a part of life. The midwifes in the health centre are quite scared and transfer allot of patients to the big hospital in Pnohm Penn, the local midwives from Life Options are trying to teach them kindness ( which I think is beautiful) and good techniques.

Local supertiction:
Roasting post partum
Mother spirit will take baby (baby will die) if you say baby ia beautiful
Sleeping with sharp knife of scissors next to baby to scare mother spirit away from baby.
Gosts

Helped with spontaneous miscarriage of 3 month old fetus, once delivered it had a big heamatoma of the left shoulder and the midwives told her the miscarriage was due to abdominal trauma and told us most likley from a fall out of a hammock.

Woman bring there own supplies to give birth with (sorongs, food, water) and are usually accompanied by a whole gaggle of aunties.

The miscarried fetus and products along with dirty linin are given to the women and they take it all away with them. This particular woman was pirexual at 39 degrees on initialinvestigation and so was given iv antibiotics and fluids as well as oral antibiotics and iron to take home.

One labourer at the moment, writing this as we wait for cervical dilation.
Obs: Stable
Possition:ROA
Engagement: 5/5
Parity:3
Age: 28
Fetal heart: heard and stable (local midwives do not listen in as there is nothing to be done if fetal distress is detected)

Health Centre

Midwives office

Pharmacy