Lek Dek, Cambodia: Walking back and forth inside a one floor concrete building between her room and the ward, Ms. Duk Sophy, a midwife in the Kor Ky Thom Health Centre in Lek Dek district, about 50 km from Phnom Penh is busy providing services to between in-patients and out-patients.

Sophy wants to make sure that women and babies are safe during delivery and her skills and professionalism have been trusted in the local community for almost 20 years. She has many stories of incidents where women's and babies' lives were saved. One happened last year: ".... Her time had almost run out! As soon as the husband and villagers brought his wife here by a Romork (A small cart towed by a motorbike commonly used for transport in rural areas) - the baby was born and the mother was bleeding badly. I checked her condition - she was so weak, her pulse and breath was almost gone. Suddenly, she was in unconscious.

The woman's husband realized that the situation was very serious and was afraid she could not be saved. The woman had arrived at around 9 o'clock at night, the atmosphere was already quiet - there was no transport, people were afraid of security issues and there was no electricity. Luckily, Sophy was on her night shift duty as part of the 24-hours service provided by the health centre.

"Immediately, I decided to give her serum and performed emergency steps to save her life. I gave her Oxytocin and closely checked her situation", said Sophy. She added, "Her condition was gradually improved and I was relieved after few hours. I did not get a wink of sleep as I had to make sure the mother was ok".
Even though the health centre provides only basic services it has provided the local community with quality services and is respected by people in the catchment area. The health staff take pride in building trust and faith in their profession.

Sophy's wish is to see healthy women and babies in her community. Many women come to her for health check-ups during pregnancy and after delivery. They also discuss and prepare for a safe delivery. Interestingly, most deliveries happen at night. People need to be aware of this and prepare and plan for transportation at night.

Ms. Chea Sinorn, 34, who was born and still lives in the village Ampel Tek, is one of those whose life Duk Sophy saved. She has six children and it was when she delivered her youngest daughter last year that both she and her child were saved by Sophy. "As I tidied up after the evening meal, I started labouring and my waters broke. I was so weak and soon felt very dizzy", said Sinorn. Her husband sought for support from their neighbours, but unfortunately, no one had a Romork. The house is not far from the National Road 1, but the track that connects it to the main road can only be used by oxcart or walking. People need a torch to walk along the track after dark. It is even harder during the rainy season.

As she continued, Sinorn glanced at her husband who sat beside her and then looked at the youngest baby who was sleeping on the other side of the bamboo bed under their old wooden house, where we could see through the holes in the floor, that the wall was coming apart from the zinc roof. "I could only remember being carried in a hammock from home, then realized that I was grabbing a lady's hand strongly as I heard a cry from my baby". She went on to say "I would have died and left behind my children miserable. I am so grateful to Ms. Sophy for saving my life."

Confirmed by a tender nod from her husband, Sinorn stressed that this is their last child. After this terrible experience, Sinorn has decided to use a permanent method. She earns a small income by catching rats. She has to get up early every day to set the traps in the field with her husband and most of the time, she returns home in the evening. The income from selling the rats is hardly enough for her family members, including her mother, to get basic services like education, health and social care.

As the breeze blew, it brought a strong unpleasant smell from the dead rats. The family admitted that they are accustomed to the smell but feel uncomfortable with visitors smelling that. Both Sinorn and her husband hope that their children will have better lives, with good jobs and better planning before they get married. They have never talked about it with the children but no objection to children to participate in any community forums discussing reproductive health issues.

"I would have died and left my 6 children behind, if there was no safe place with a skilled and attentive midwife, Sophy, to save my life," said Sinorn.

"Women's and babies' lives will be saved when there are availability of qualifications in both professional and equipment", said Sophy.