UNICEF Cambodia KiengMidwife Chhim Ren performs an antenatal check-up on Min Phath at the Tmat Peoy village community centre. Ren is part of a mobile outreach team from the Takoeung Health Centre that travels to remote villages to provide care.

Nov 2019

"Pregnant women were rarely brought to hospital to deliver the baby because it was too far, and they may give birth on the way. Another choice was to carry them with a hammock..."

In healthcare facilities managed under the French Protectorate (1867–1946) such colonial health service facilities and charitable organizations, doctors handled care for women giving birth. However, the concept of medical assistance while giving birth was unpopular among the general Khmer population [6].

“ After giving birth, a woman is supposed to sleep on a warm bed above a stove with fire heating, and we have to stick a nail on the bed otherwise “arb” (a kind of demon) would come to disturb the woman. We can’t see that demon, but the mother of the new-born can see it. Then, she would open her eyes widely and her body temperature would increase. She could die if no one can help”

“Vietnamese troops lived there. However, people were afraid of [them] … we didn’t dare to go out at night. During the day, we needed a few people to accompany us or Vietnamese troops could harm us” (F, 63, Takeo_18).

“Although the doctor did not ask money from me, I did not have money to buy food ... I did not have any means to travel too. I literally had nothing … [the midwives would want] 30,000KHR (USD7.38)Footnote 2 and fruits just like I told you previously. They asked for the money because they touch our bloodFootnote 3 and help us deliver the baby. It's normal. I saw the example of my neighbour. She went to a health centre, but [the young midwife] asked her for 30,000 riels (USD7.38), two kilos of fruits and two cans of fruit juice. They said it's because they touched her blood.

Ros, B., Lê, G., Fustukian, S. et al. Socio-cultural change in conflict and post conflict settings: five decades of giving birth in Cambodia. Confl Health 13, 53 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-019-0237-6

full https://conflictandhealth.biomedcentral ... 019-0237-6