the anticipation of babies

Today was an adventure at the Hanoi OB/GYN Hospital. Let's just say, there were a lot of pregnant women there. We started out touring the place. We find ourselves in an odd situation when touring facilities like this. I don't know if there are different customs of privacy here than I am used to or if we get special treatment as students, but we always end up seeing more than I would have thought we would be able to.

We saw a delivery room where there were a handful of women at various stages of labor and delivery surrounded by a host of nurses. We saw rooms full of women and what were most likely their mothers or next of kin looking after newborns. This hospital has a lot of trouble with overcrowding. There is this "envelop culture" operating in the hospital where, for a small fee, one will get better service or a private room. However, this is only possible for those of the upper class,as I'm sure you can infer.

The next thing we saw was an operating room. I have seen surgery happen on TV so many times, but this was the first time I had actually been there watching a surgery happen. The woman had experienced an ectopic pregnancy. If you don't know what that is, it's where, for some reason, the fertilized egg doesn't make it to the uterus. It is incredibly painful for the mother and the embryo must be removed as soon as possible. There was even a picture on the screen from the tiny camera that the surgeons were using to operate with. IT WAS SO AMAZING TO WATCH.

We also walked by the antenatal care wing and the family planning/abortion wing. After all this, we got the chance to talk with one of the doctors about the policies and inner workings of the hospital. It was a super informative and interesting day. Here are all the things it made me think about:

1. I want to be an OB/GYN (this will most likely not happen).
2. I want to fall in love, marry, and then start a family with the most wonderful man (hopefully, this will happen).
3. When and if I am with child and in labor, I will be in my own room.

Another interesting tid-bit: 50% of the births that happen at this hospital are by c-section. There are a few reasons for this. The first is that parents want to be able to choose an auspicious day for the birth of their child. The other reason involves money. With surgery, there are more instances in which the doctor can receive envelop payments from the patient.