Child Birth and Midwives : Di Loo (Dettol)

滴露

Whenever I visited downriver Nang Chong uncles and aunties, I would be very impressed or rather intrigued by their first aid kit, which was made up of several lotions and plasters, some cotton wool and a pair of scissors. The first aid kit was seriously guarded by my grandmother who  made sure that two





items would always be in the tin (Jacob's) : a bottle of Dettol and a bottle of Iodine.

Cuts, bruises and bites were common among the 14 grandchildren. Even soles punctured by rusty ails and cuts by zinc roofs were common in those days. The reason? Kids just loved climbing up a tree, because the  tree was there and anything climbable we would climb. Running was normal. But the most common cuts and bruises would come from adventures we took looking for snails and small fish on the river banks. So having a lot of energy caused us to have scrapes which had to be treated by Dettol and iodine. Any deeper wounds which required stitches would require a trip to Sibu by boat the next day. But luckily none of us had serious wounds. Dettol and Iodine saved us.

Dettol was introduced by the Chinese sinsehs and the local doctors like Chee Ching Nang and Chiu Nai Cheng.

Interestingly according to my mother, Dettol was also used by Foochow barefoot midwives for cleaning babies' navel and the umbilical cord and during delivery.

For a few days, Dettol was used to clean the navel area until the umbilical dropped off. It was much preferred. Alcohol was available too. But because the brand was from the UK, the local mothers must have loved it more.

When the umbilical cord dropped off was a big deal to the mothers and midwives in those days.

The Lau King Howe Hospital, Sibu, the first modern hospital built in the Rajang Valley with funds donated by Lau King Howe and the Rajah's government also used a lot of Dettol. This was because the first few doctors of the hospital came from England.

I remember children's wounds in school were all cleaned by Dettol.

And rooms in the sanba after a baby was born smelled of Dettol.


Dettol contains chloroxylenol and it is a valued brand today. After 80 years of history it is still going strong. It is still the number one (my mother's words) for cleaning wounds caused by cuts, bites, grazes, insect string and for personal hygiene to help mums protect their families from harmful germs.

The Covid 19 pandemic has caused people to look for the Dettol brand again.