Introduction-E

This is while you are in labour?
Elisapee: Yes, so the delivery would go faster and I wouldn’t be in pain for too long.
Following the contractions, you tried to get it into position so it would come faster. And
when you accept the pain, the labour goes faster. It is not the mother’s job to let the baby
out. It’s the womb that decides when the baby is coming out. With each contraction, the
baby gets into a lower position. The women in labour seemed to be taken better care of
back then. I have delivered twice in the hospital and I was scared. It was the first time I
was in labour without my mother-in-law being present and I was alone. The bed that I
lay on seemed to be too narrow and short, and it seemed as if I was going to fall off the
bed, and on top of that I was having contractions. I had to open my legs to the nurses
and I was really scared. That is not the way we used to deliver. Our legs used to be
covered with blankets, and we didn’t have to open our legs to anyone. I have delivered
nine children in my home. At my tenth delivery I was at the hospital here. It was as if I
were in labour for the first time. I was afraid of falling and I didn’t know what was going
on. I didn’t have an interpreter and I was scared. It isn’t a very good memory when I
think of it. There were no interpreters in the hospital back in 1968. It’s a wonder that I
delivered. The next time I delivered in the hospital, it was in the hallway on a bed as
there was no other bed available. There was a helicopter crash at that time, and the
passengers required medical attention. They needed the beds. I was in labour and
delivered in the hallway. On top of that the bed was very soft. I was in labour for a long
time, and when the baby was born, he didn’t cry for a long time. I was told that his lungs
didn’t expand properly, but then he was fine afterwards.
We used to be in labour while being closely taken care of. The legs were positioned
so that they were equally placed, so it wouldn’t be so painful in the pelvic area. They
wouldn’t feel so much pain in the lower back, as the legs would be equally parted. The
woman in labour was carefully attended to, so that her body was in balance in every
position. People were more concerned with the woman than with the baby that was
going to come out. The woman isn’t the first priority in the hospital. It is always the
foetus they are more concerned about and it is better taken care of. The mother has to be
well taken care of as well, as she is scared. It is not proper care of a woman in labour
when one of the legs is in a higher position than the other.
I was present when a woman was in labour in our community. It wasn’t her first
delivery. She bent her legs and then straightened them. The nurse did not do anything. I
told the nurse to look at the leg, for if a leg isn’t positioned the proper way, it might break.
Was it a taboo for a pregnant girl to cut her hair while she was pregnant?
Elisapee: I don’t believe in this. I believe that a pregnant woman shouldn’t just be idle.
She is not to be in a really angry state that affects her mind. I don’t know about the visual
22 Introduction to the Oral Traditions