[VNA] Humanity shines in quarantine site

By Chu Hieu – Cao Bang province-based correspondent

On March 12, we rushed to the Cao Bang General Hospital upon hearing information that a woman is giving birth in its COVID-19 isolation ward. Despite following strict prevention measures, we still found ourselves anxious when entering the area. At that time, the pandemic was at its peak in the country, and the hospital’s isolation ward was the place where all local patients suspected of contracting COVID-19 were under monitoring. Doctor Tong Thi Hong Duyen, head of the obstetrics department, led us to the postpartum room. In the room, we saw the mother, who was in her late 30s, holding the new-born baby in her arms. Wrinkles ran deep in the face of the ethnic women and her hands were calloused due to hard work. As we just started a conversation with her, the mother burst into tears. She said due to economic difficulties in the family, she had to go to China to work. When the pandemic situation became complex, she returned to Viet Nam on March 6, already 39 weeks in pregnancy. Upon her arrival at home, she was sent to the local Thach An medical station for quarantine. On March 10, the woman developed a fever so she was sent to the Cao Bang General Hospital for monitoring at the hospital’s department of infectious diseases. She started labor at night the same day, and gave birth to a baby girl at 8:50 am on March 11. Asked about how she felt when giving birth without any family member by her side, the new mother kept repeating that the doctors here were dedicated toward patients. She said they took care of her just like her parents did at home. Expressing her deep gratitude toward them, the woman told us that she will tell the little girl about how she was born at the peak time of the pandemic and about the dedication of the ‘white-blouse soldiers’. Reporting on such stories on kindness and compassion during these days gave reporters like me a deep feeling about Vietnamese people’s solidarity and the hard work and dedication of the ‘white-blouse soldiers’ at the frontline of the fight against COVID-19. The story about the ethnic mother giving birth in the quarantine facility was the most moving one that I have had the chance to cover during the days the country struggled against the pandemic. Pregnant woman Nong Thi V and her newly born daughter in the quarantine facility of Cao Bang General Hospital on March 12, 2020 Doctors and obstetricians successfully helped pregnant women Nong Thi V give birth in the quarantine facility in Cao Bang General Hospital Doctors and obstetricians in Cao Bang General Hospital take care of Nong Thi V and her newborn daughter on March 12, 2020