A woman uses what she learned during training to help other women in her village.
Samaritan’s Purse staff rode two hours on motorbikes along bumpy, winding roads to visit Lu Thi Di. Her family is one of the poorest in her village. Her father, two older brothers, and husband work in China in order to help the family make ends meet.
Lu Thi Di graduated from the Samaritan’s Purse traditional birth attendant training. Since attending the training, she has encouraged women in her village to visit health facilities for antenatal checkups. She also advises women to have assistance from qualified attendants when they give birth.
Lu Thi Di said she feels joy helping mothers deliver their babies.
This is her story:
My life has been very difficult. I didn’t go to school and got married at a young age. Even though I work hard every day, I still do not make enough to make ends meet. When I am sick, I can only go to the forest to pick herbal leaves for treatment.
Pregnant women in my village do not have the habit of going to a clinic for antenatal checkup. Before attending the Samaritan’s Purse traditional birth attendant training, I was not aware of the risks of death due to labor complications.
I gained useful medical knowledge during the training, and women in my village have started coming to me and asking for help.
Lu Thi Di learned how to help women safely deliver their babies.
On January 15, 2017, 18-year-old Giang Thi Mai gave birth to her fourth child.
When I arrived at her house, her baby boy had been delivered. However, she was having post-birth complications.
I immediately applied the knowledge that I had learned to help her. I was relieved and happy when she recovered well.
It was the first time I had helped someone in my village.
About a week later, Giang Thi Tau’s family member knocked on my door and asked for urgent help. She was also experiencing post-birth complications.
I applied the same techniques and knowledge as I did for Giang Thi Mai. I also counseled her on proper nutrition for mothers.
