Born in Borneo

As part of my preparation for going to Borneo I did quite a bit of reading as I usually do before visiting a foreign country. One of the books stated that children are among the Borneo people's most treasured possessions. Every blessing, prayer, invocation includes a petition for healthy progeny. It went on to discuss some of the many taboos in pregnancy held by the people there. I was determined to interview as many people as possible about childbirth while on this world's 3rd largest island to see if these taboos really existed as well as what else I might discover about 'birthing in Borneo'. I wasted no time as I started with the lady in charge at our hotel the night I arrived in Kota Kinabalu or KK as the capital of the State of Sabah is known. She, like all the others I talked within this town of half a million, told me she had birthed her baby in a hospital. Childbirth Classes were available but cost so she did not take any. She had a vaginal birth with a vacuum extractor "...as the baby was nearly 10 pounds." She chose a doctor. She said she could have had a midwife but again that would incure an additional fee. Still with no 'extras' and only a one-night stay the cost was about 3000 ringitts (about $1000) including her prenatal care. She told me she had her sister with her, as her husband didn't want to come. This was a theme that I heard repeated numerous times with little variation. It seemed that if a woman lived within the larger city area most chose hospital births without a husband or partner present. This fact was born out by taxi drivers, shopkeepers, jungle lodge managers, women in roadside cafes and in various shops.

The responses were a bit different in the small villages, especially in the jungle area away from the 'big city' but the theme of no husbands in the delivery seemed the norm there as well. There in the small villages of Borneo I found the pregnant women are subject to various taboos. Even women who deliver in a hospital often listen and abide by these taboos and visit a Bidan (their word for what appears to be similar to what we sometimes refer to as a 'lay midwife' or in Spanish, 'partera'. Discussing it further I was told she was really called Bidan Kampung (women helping women=Bidan of the village=Kampung). Diana, a delightful, bright 34 year old mother of 3 sat with me along with a friend of hers, Salina who had 2 babies who had been born with the help of the local Bidan.

Salina spoke no English but Diana translated as we discussed the various customs and taboos for the pregnant women. Salina contributed to the conversation as we sat along the bank of the Kinabatangan River for she had delivered at home with the help of a Bidan. Although Diana's births took place in a hospital, she also went regularly to the local Bidan.

I found the local customs so very fascinating I put aside my preconceived ideas of an outline of questions and just listened and furiously took notes. I hope you too might find them of interest. Some of the more common ones both women agreed were absolutes to follows involved foods. Pregnant women were not to eat turmeric or your baby would turn yellow. If eggplant were eaten according to the ladies with whom I was talking and others I spoke with, the baby would be born blue, eat chilies and the baby would have a rash, sting rays eaten produced a white color while if the mother to be ate cold rice the baby would cry. Tying a towel around a pregnant woman's neck would often end up with a baby with a cord wrapped around its neck. I said I had read that if a pregnant woman looked at a monkey or something else considered ugly she might very likely end up with an ugly baby. Salina broke in to say that it wasn't so bad to look at them they just shouldn't say anything bad about them or the baby would end up looking like a monkey. Activities of the mother were also restricted for if she sat in front of a door the baby would have difficulty exiting into the world Some believed if the labor was unduly long, the woman's family members would start to uncover jars and baskets, untie whatever strings may be knotted in the house with the idea of allowing the baby to 'get out' or 'come unstuck'. In really serious cases another source reported that all the boats in the jetty will be set adrift, usually in the care of a few young boys who will paddle them safely back a few hours later. Special prayers were often said over a water the mother was to drink to speed things up. Another reason for a slow labor might be if the laboring woman had spoken too harshly to her mother-in-law. That could be corrected by an apology by the father to be.

Women weren't the only locals I talked with. Handsome Ibrahim also patiently answered my many questions. When I asked if his babies were born in a hospital or with a bidan, he said both his girls had been born in the hospital. When I asked if he had been present at their birth his answer was, "I love my wife and I love my children but no........." He then quickly added but he never killed any animals while his wife was pregnant, another taboo in Borneo.

Diana added that not only were fathers not allowed to kill animals during their wife's pregnancy they were not to dig holes in the land for fear the baby would not have an anus. I actually was never able to find anyone who reported the father of the baby present at a birth of their child....either in the hospital or when the baby was at home with a bidan The bidan who graciously also gave me time agreed. ".....only women at births'.

Ibrahim left to do other duties at the lodge where we were staying on the Kinabatangan River, the longest in the state of Sabah on the Isle of Borneo. Diana said, "You want another story?" I quickly agreed I did. "A father-to- be in her village had hit the hands of his other children. The baby was born with a withered hand. All the village people said it was because he had used a ruler on his other children's hands while his wife was pregnant." Salina nodded in agreement.

Diana asked if I knew about a baby hammock. Not sure what she had in mind I asked her to explain it to me. She drew the delightful picture here: Note the garlic put near the spring and the scissors below the baby's sling. These were carefully placed there to ward away the evil spirits.

Diana had been so helpful and seemingly interested in talking further about this topic I ventured to ask if she knew any bidans that I might visit. I said I would gladly give up my night jungle walk to meet with one. She excitedly said her neighbor was a bidan and she would arrange our meeting. Since Diana had had all 3 of her births in the hospital but chose the service of the bidan as well she gave me some insights into costs. What a difference between the cost in the capital for a hospital birth and here on the other side of the island. In the small outlying village hospital on the east coast of Borneo the cost for the birth would be about 50 ringitts or roughly $17 plus 5 ringitts for each prenatal visit. (less than $2) Bidans on the other hand didn't charge for their services but they were usually given R20 (a bit less than $7) plus a chicken, some fabric or what ever the woman had.

Taking a boat across the river in the dark to sit with a bidan was yet another exciting part of this 'birthing in Borneo study'. Waiting inside a modest spartanly furnished home was a bitty, delightful bidan who seemed as happy to see me, as I was to see her. She sat against the wall on the linoleum floor and gestured for Diana and I to join her. Shortly someone brought out a pounded silver pot of tea and some teacakes and sat them on the floor next to us. A young man lounged in the only chair I saw in this large open space. He seemed most interested in the conversation though he had no children himself and quickly agreed to take pictures for me. I had asked Diana what I should call the bidan. She answered that she could not say her name out of respect because she was older but I could call her Madam Jamurd. This delightful woman told me, with Diana acting as a translator, that she had given birth to 10 babies with the help of a bidan then giggled and said had just delivered her 11th by herself. I struggle to put into words the way she gleefully gestured a swooping motion with her hands from her perineum to her breasts.

"Bu Dayang" (Auntie), as this delightful midwife was called by some, confirmed what I had heard over and over again, only women in on deliveries.

When I asked about babies born to HIV positive mothers and were they only breast or bottle fed it took some time to make sure she knew what AIDS was. It was finally established she had heard of AIDS on TV but instead of answering the question about bottle vs. breast with HIV mothers she launched into a long discussion about asthma. She also told how to tell if the baby was ready to be born. As she herself chewed on some leaves she had cut while she was talking, she explained if the pregnant woman would chew these leaves, spit them out and rub them on her stomach and they turned a brighter red she would go into labor within a few days but if they were not red she wasn't ready.

When I asked if I might see what she took to a delivery and perhaps take a picture she simply responded, "I take my hands." When I asked what she used to cut the cord she with gestures and Diana translating explained she milked the cord in both directions about a foot from the body of the baby, laid the milked portion on a coconut shell the father had prepared and cut the cord with a knife the father had made out of a piece of bamboo saying a Muslim prayer as she made the cut. After the birth of a baby the mother is considered cold and various means are used to warm her up. Having her sit on a rack over a fire seems to be dying out but efforts are still made by the bidan to warm the woman......in a climate that easily gets close to 100 degrees one wouldn't think that would be much of a problem.

When I asked where were women during labor Diana without translating said they were in bed. I then asked her if she could please ask the bidan. When she did the answer was, "I have them walk." When I inquired regarding positions for pushing it wasn't until I said, "In this position, or this, or this for pushing?" and demonstrated the various positions I help women into during delivery that I got my answers.

With giggles all around they agreed to have me be the pregnant woman and they would show me. The young man in the room quickly offered to take a picture of this. With this the bidan was all business, she made sure a pillow was gotten from the other room and put it under my head. She then slipped her hands under my buttocks and raised me up slightly. After this picture was taken the bidan said she would like to show me how she massages her pregnant clients. She was massaging my abdomen quite gingerly until she saw the large surgical scare that went totally across my waist and up toward the area between my breasts. With that she stopped saying she was afraid she would hurt me. I assured her it was 10 years old and demonstrated how vigorously it could be touched but it did nothing to reassure her. She shuddered and tucked her hands away.

Later at a roadside 'restaurant' on the small island of Labaun about 14 miles off the larger island of Borneo and still considered part of Borneo we stopped for lunch. The ladies running the establishment (actually just a few chairs and tables set along side the road) asked if they could take our picture, as they had never had anyone from the US eat in their restaurant. They took pictures of us with their cell phone and we took pictures of them with our cameras.

It as an easy opening for me to get confirmations on the taboos of birthing in Borneo I had learned. The several women there readily recognized all taboos as being true. Much of the conversation took place with the translation help of the 18-year-old daughter of one of the women present. (Picture taken at restaurant in Labaun)

The scenic beauty and wild life I came to Borneo to enjoy surpassed my expectations but the openness and willingness to share their stories of birth plus the friendliness of these delightful people of Borneo goes way beyond anything I could have hoped for. I will be eternally grateful to them all but especially to Diana who asked me to email this to her. I will have done so before it reaches the desk of 'Midwifery Today'. All the written words will have been checked for accuracy by Diana. Thank you Diana and thanks to all of you who are still reading. I would love to get your responses, questions or additions. Please feel free to email me directly at jenxl@aol.com.

To learn more about the author click on 'Linda B. Jenkins' on the home page of www.birthprep.com