The New Mother

On the morning of 22 March 2011, the Yushu Prefecture Maternal and Child Health Hospital received an urgent call from the Shanglaxiu Township Health Clinic. Gengqiuzhuoma, a 31-year-old patient at the township health clinic, was undergoing contractions, and would have to be transported to the prefecture hospital, as she was a high-risk pregnancy.

The head nurse at Yushu Prefecture Maternal and Child Health, Nimazhuoma, immediately dispatched the UNICEF-provided ambulance to the township health clinic, some 70 kilometres away.

Around 4 pm, Gengqiuzhuoma arrived at the Prefecture MCH Hospital and gave birth to a baby boy around one hour later. The 3.5-kilogram baby boy was born with blue-purple complexion and irregular breathing, but with generally healthy muscle tone and fairly normal pulse rate and reflex irritability. The newborn was placed in the UNICEF-provided incubator and given oxygen for one hour, after which his complexion and breathing pattern both improved.

Today, both mother and baby are healthy. In keeping with local tradition, the baby boy will be given a name at a naming ceremony held when he turns one month old. Gengqiuzhuoma is just one of the 267 women to have given birth at the Yushu Prefecture MCH Hospital since the earthquake.

Medical equipment provided by UNICEF to the hospital, such as delivery beds, infant radiant warmers and incubators, have supported the re-establishment of maternal and child health services in the earthquake zone. The ambulance provided by UNICEF to the Prefecture MCH Hospital has been dispatched 50 times to help pregnant woman and children in need of urgent medical assistance.