Sibu : Did the Placenta turn inside out?

 The birth story of a lovely girl with big eyes and a mop of hair.

This is also the story of a very concerned mother who was kind of disappointed that her daughter had given birth to a third baby girl. A kind Foochow midwife would totally understand the disappointment.

And the age old belief of reading the placenta was once again brought to the forefront. Please Read on.....

We have been living in Sibu, a dominantly Foochow town for some years by then when a third child was expected. People had started asking me if I had looked forward to a boy. I replied I only wanted a healthy child, and a boy or a girl would be welcome.

Sadly , my mother in law was suffering from breast cancer and had been seen at the Lau King Howe Hospital and by our favourite practitioner, Dr. Fan. The prognosis was not good at all. She could go any time.

Usually for busy ASIAN fathers, any childbirth would be in the hands of the expectant mother. And child birth in most cultures is no big deal. In Sarawak, the Penan mother had in the past gone into the jungle to deliver her own child, without any one in attendance. Among the hardy Foochow pioneers many women carrying their babies full term gave birth in the rubber garden while taping rubber, cut the umbilical cord with a broken latex bowl and went home as if nothing happened.

It was a school day and the baby was not due until the end of the month. But it decided to come in the middle of a Sixth Form British Constitution lesson. Luckily it was not dramatic. So off I went, quietly to the maternity clinic with the help of my colleague after giving all the instructions to the school clerk and my departmental colleagues. The school clerk would process my leave and arrangements would be made for the marking of examination papers and sit ins.

The private clinic midwives were good especially my aunt Lau Fong Fei, who informed my mother and sisters about the impending birth, which could be any time in the evening. The labour pains started nonetheless. There was no recess time for labour pains.

The whole maternity ward, well air conditioned, a luxury at that time, was empty except for myself, as the other bed was vacant. It was a bit frightening but I could hear people walking and sounds of babies crying. I could even hear new mothers being discharged from an outer office, all in Foochow of course. Giving birth in a maternity clinic was a luxury not many women could afford and it was also for a mother who was certain that there would be no complications.

Then it was time for me to be wheeled into the labour room. One hour later the unnamed baby was born at about 3.30 pm .

Photo is from Google. My mother bought me coffee take away from Kopitiam.

My mother and aunt Fong Fei were confident that the baby would be born naturally and easily. My mother and sister came, not with the chicken soup but with a condensed milk tin filled with the best Kopi-kaw for me, a Foochow style of coffee shop coffee to go . It was a luxury to sip the hot kopi kaw with a straw. That is one hot drink I can never forget.

I remember my mother asked a very Foochow question, "Did the placenta turn in side out?" My dear aunt said,"Yes." The baby was my third daughter, and that answer "yes" meant that my next baby would be a boy.

I fell into a deep sleep dreaming about the House of Commons in London (I was the only History teacher then who could teach British Constitution).