International Rescue Committee (IRC)

The lifesaving midwives of Tham Hin

Photos: 
<p>Nearly 8,000 people live in the Tham Hin refugee camp, including 3,000 children. Around 300 children are born in the camp every year. IRC-trained midwives provide pre and postnatal care, family planning, immunizations and supplementary feeding for malnourished children.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>A pregnant woman waits to see a midwife for a check-up. Once a month, all pregnant mothers gather in the camp&rsquo;s thatched maternity ward to be weighed, examined and receive supplemental food.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>Tanaw, 27, who uses only one name, is one of 15 midwives in the Tham Hin camp. &ldquo;Part of my job is to make sure that pregnant women know how to take care of their children, before and after birth,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I talk to them about the nutrients they need and how to avoid infections.&rdquo;</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>Children in Tham Hin are regularly weighed and measured to determine if they are malnourished or suffer from disease.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>Tanaw calculates a patient&rsquo;s estimated delivery date using a cardboard gestation calculator, also known as a pregnancy wheel.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>Tanaw gently feels a patient&rsquo;s belly and checks her blood pressure. She listens for the baby&rsquo;s heart beat with a stethoscope and measures the width of the stomach. &ldquo;If we detect a serious problem either with mother or baby, we can immediately refer the patient to a hospital outside the camp,&rdquo; Tanaw says.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>Naw Mu, 23, is helped into an IRC ambulance for a four-hour drive to a hospital. The IRC&rsquo;s Dr. Parueluk Kesorn suspects a premature separation of the placenta from the uterine wall. &ldquo;She must receive treatment immediately,&rdquo; Kesorn says.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>A father helps his daughter, suffering from bronchitis, breathe oxygen through a mask in the Tham Hin maternity ward. Respiratory tract infections are the most common ailment among children in the camp.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>A midwife uses a special stethoscope that enables her to hear the fetal heart beat. All midwives attend a six-month training course where they learn delivery techniques, postnatal care, immunization, nutrition, first aid skills and hygiene.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>A midwife administers a prenatal check-up to an expectant mother.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>Lay Htoo, 20, is looking at her newborn daughter Di Lay, born a few hours earlier in the camp&rsquo;s maternity ward. The first-time mother is being treated for tuberculosis and is very weak. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m tired but very happy,&rdquo; she smiles.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>Malnourished mothers and children receive extra food and iron tablets. Anemia and malnutrition are problems in the camp, especially among refugees who recently arrived from Myanmar.</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
<p>&ldquo;I know I am doing something very important,&rdquo; says Tanaw, who herself is a Burmese refugee. &ldquo;My dream is to return to Myanmar and help mothers in the villages there too.&rdquo;</p><br /><br /><em>Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC</em><br /><br />
Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC

Nestled deep in the hills of Western Thailand, the Tham Hin refugee camp is a patchwork of bamboo huts housing nearly 8,000 people. Most of the camp’s residents are refugees from Myanmar who have fled war and upheaval in their homeland and have lived in the camp for years, or in some cases, decades. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is the camp’s sole provider of health care, including the vital service of training and providing midwives. Each year, 15 IRC-trained midwives examine and support hundreds of women and children in the camp. The examinations can detect potentially life-threatening conditions such as infections, severe anemia or an abnormal position of the fetus, in time for treatment and referral to hospitals outside the camp.Photos and text by Peter Biro/The IRC