Da Nang Hospital for Women & Children – Sai-Wing Chan, MD
Written by Sai-Wing Chan, MD, PGY-4 at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Ob/Gyn Residency Program while on Global Health rotation at Da Nang Hospital for Women & Children in Da Nang, Vietnam in October 2017.
On 3rd Floor Labor & Delivery at the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children, at exactly five minutes to nine o’clock in the morning, a procession of gravid women in turquoise gowns assemble outside a small linoleum-tiled room filled with three well-worn examination beds. The dozen women take their seats on a row of blue plastic stools. A few of them have the tell-tale signs- wincing faces and heavy, rhythmic breathing – that reveal the fact they are clearly in active labor. One by one, they hop onto an exam table, each face disappearing behind a swollen belly as they…