Historical and local insight on thematernity ward with testimony from a khmer family

Maternity ward at Jayavarman VII Hospital

«Each birth adds to the beauty of the world.» This saying is nowhere more true than at Kantha Bopha Hospital in Siem Reap, with more than 50 births per day, sometimes reaching 80 or even a record of 115 since the hospital opened, and with a caesarean section rate of around 20%. Let us now take a tour of the Jayavarman VII maternity ward.

Expanded and improved last year according to the plans of the hospital's director, Denis Laurent, and his architectural expertise, the maternity ward now includes a large patient reception hall, numerous consultation rooms, and three ultrasound rooms for follow-up and diagnostic imaging.

The new maternity building was finished in 2024 with Beatocello on it. 3D ecography presentation of placenta accreta with Dr Bunried.

The maternity ward itself comprises an operating theater with two rooms for caesarean sections and a neonatal resuscitation area, two delivery rooms for vaginal births depending on whether cases are simple or complex, respectively two prenatal rooms also divided according to simple/complex cases, two post-partum rooms for follow-up after vaginal deliveries, and two post-partum rooms for care after caesarean deliveries.

As a Swiss medical student, I had the opportunity to complete a two-week rotation there, and it was a truly valuable experience, both for learning essential practical skills and for realizing the importance and beauty of the profession of obstetrician-gynaecologist and midwife, in a country where births are numerous. It is thanks to a dedicated and rigorous team that all these new lives can come into the world under favorable sanitary conditions for both mother and child—conditions made possible only through rock-solid organization.

Lecture about post-partum hemorragy in morning conference.

I learned there that childbirth is not merely about delivering a baby from a womb, but that care around birth is extensive: before birth, it is sometimes necessary to manage mechanical or pharmacological induction in complex cases; after birth, the umbilical cord must be cared for, the placenta delivered, perineal tears sutured, and post-partum haemorrhage sometimes controlled.

Caesarean sections are also part of the maternity ward's daily routine, frequently decided upon in cases of placental abnormalities that could endanger the mother in the event of a vaginal delivery. This is where the value of ultrasound becomes evident: it allows high-risk situations to be anticipated at the time of delivery, so that the intervention can be optimally adapted with regard to the safety of both mother and child. Despite these advanced resources, there remain grey-zone situations in which two physicians may hold differing opinions regarding the indication for a caesarean section or not.

In post-partum Ward with midwife Somnang. In cesar-sectio bloc with Dre Kongkea.

In any case, each birth is a beautiful promise for the future. This is what we will now explore more closely through an interview with the Khmer family with whom I stayed during my internship, two of whose children were born at Kantha Bopha Hospital in Siem Reap. Here is the testimony of Mr. Siv, the father of the family:

Interview with a family from Siem Reap

Mr. Siv, his wife and his three last sons (from right): Siv, Pagnavan, Bunheng, me, Bunhak, Pisey.

To begin with, could you briefly introduce yourself and your family?

My name is Siv and my wife’s name is Pisey. We have five children: one daughter and four sons. All of our children live in Siem Reap, and two of them were born at Kantha Bopha Hospital. Their names are Siv Solidat and Siv Bunheng. Our other children were born in different places, but whenever any of our children became sick, we always took them to Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital.

Why did you always choose Kantha Bopha Hospital for your children?

Because Kantha Bopha is the best hospital in Cambodia for treating children. The doctors can treat many different kinds of diseases, and they are real experts. All the doctors are very good at caring for children. For my wife and me, we truly trust this hospital.

Thank you for your introduction and your kind words about Kantha Bopha Hospital. How did you decide to go there for the delivery of your children?

I took my wife there with my tuk-tuk because we live very close to the hospital, less than two kilometers away. Solidat was born on Thursday, July 27th, 2006, at 1 a.m. during the night, and Bunheng was born on June 11th, 2011. When Bunheng was born, there were around 100 births that day. After the delivery, we went back home with my tuk-tuk, as I am a tuk-tuk driver.

How would you describe your overall experience at the Kantha Bopha maternity ward?

The maternity ward was a very good place for helping mothers. They pay a lot of attention to pregnancy and childbirth. When my wife went there to give birth, all the doctors and midwives helped her very much. They took care of her in every way.

More generally, how do you feel when you are in this hospital?

I felt warmly welcomed when my children stayed at the hospital. The quality of the medicine is very good, and the doctors are excellent.

How would you describe the care provided to the mother and the newborn?

The midwives took care of the babies very carefully and very gently. They paid close attention to everything they did, and they were very friendly to the patients.

In your opinion, what role does Kantha Bopha Hospital play in the lives of Cambodian families today?

All the people here like this hospital very much. The nurses, doctors, and midwives receive a good salary, so they do their work seriously and carefully. This is a very important children’s hospital because it treats children free of charge. When families are very poor, the hospital also helps by providing money so they can buy food.

What does the fact that care is free of charge mean for you and your family?

It is extremely important for my family. I did not have enough money to take my children to private clinics, which are very expensive and not of the same quality as Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital. When children are treated there, almost all of them recover. We trust this hospital completely. They respect everyone equally. They never think about whether a family is poor or rich, and they never look down on anyone. They only think about one thing: taking care of all children, without any favoritism.

What do you hope for your children’s future?

I hope that all my children will learn how to help other people in the next generation. If one day they become doctors, I hope they will help children like the doctors at Kantha Bopha Hospital do. I strongly hope for a better future through them. During this period of conflict, there are many refugees, and my children already help by carrying food to refugees in Siem Reap.

Finally, what does Dr. Beat Richner represent for you?

People all over my country respect him like a god. He helped children from his heart and dedicated his life to them. He worked hard to collect money from Switzerland to help Cambodian children for two generations—before and after Pol Pot—until he passed away. But it is not only him. All the people from Switzerland who donate help Cambodian children. Even visitors, for example when they visit Angkor Wat, contribute two dollars to Kantha Bopha Hospital. Especially the people of Switzerland help, sometimes without even knowing it, because the government contributes through taxes to support Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital.

From Croix Rouge to Khmer Rouge

Thank you to Mr. Siv for generously agreeing to answer my questions and for taking the necessary time for this interview. It only confirms the deep esteem in which Kantha Bopha is held in the heart of the Cambodian people, and the beautiful promise for our world that every new life represents.

Now, a little history … Mr. Siv has just mentioned the contribution of Dr. Beat Richner for two generations. He came first to Phnom Penh in 1974 in a context of an aid mission with the Croix Rouge and worked in Kantha Bopha hospital, but only a few months later, on 15th April 1975, the communist Khmer Rouge overthrew the government and all the people considered as the elite – including foreigners, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, teachers, high officials - were declared enemies of the people.

Richner then had to leave the country, and would be able to fly back to Cambodia only in 1992, called by the King and the Ministry of Health to rebuild Kantha Bopha. At the end of my rotation in the maternity ward, I left for a weekend visit to Phnom Penh, still carried by the euphoria of what I had just experienced: an overwhelming abundance of kindness toward the many babies and mothers who are cared for with nobility, respect, and love.

While visiting the city and the S-21 complex, I understood with my own eyes that Cambodia has come a very long way, and that such a structure – one that promotes and protects human life – did not come into being on its own and is not an immutable reality. S-21 is a penitentiary complex erected during the Khmer Rouge era, together with the killing field of Choeung Ek, 15 kilometers outside from the capital, and the Tuol Sleng prison in the capital, an ancient highschool. One third of the Cambodian people lost their lives during this dark period. Among them, what shocked me most was the way babies were massacred: smashed against a tree. They were killed because of a paranoid regime that aimed to eliminate any potential source of revenge from the victims’ families.

Seeing this, I was profoundly shaken. The dozens of births I had been able to witness – each a promise of life – were suddenly placed in perspective against the thousands of deaths executed with savage brutality. May this memorial be an old tragic memory that never happens again to Cambodian people.

Memorial in Choeung Ek and Exposition in Tuol Sleng.

Border conflict and its impact on Kantha Bopha

Strangely, my visit to Phnom Penh took place just before the resumption of fighting along the border between Thailand and Cambodia. It was on Monday evening, December 8th, from one of the chief surgeons that I learned the news. That same evening, Mr. Siv – the man interviewed above – told me that his eldest son was about to be mobilized at the border as a soldier and he then narrowly escaped an F-16 bomb by ten minutes.

Since then, new bombardments has continued to emerge, including in regions deeper inside Cambodia including Siem Reap province. It appears that the number of deaths amounts to a few dozen, but hundreds of thousands of families, including newborns, have been forced onto the roads of exile to avoid the bombardments. They are now gathered in makeshift camps around pagodas or public squares. In response, both organized and spontaneous solidarity has emerged to support both refugees and soldiers alike.

Collect point for refugees and border people in a coffee of Siem Reap. Refugees tents in a pagoda area. Pagoda. Distribution of supplies to refugees organized in that pagoda. Medical permanence in a refugee camp around a pagoda.

At Kantha Bopha Hospital, more than twenty of the children currently hospitalized come from refugee families. They all need help for getting their food as they don’t have any money income. On Christmas Day, I witnessed both a tragic event and a joyful one. The consequences of the war reached the maternity ward, where a young refugee mother was told that her baby had died in utero, close to term—something she herself linked to the trauma of the bombings she had endured.

A little later, another woman was about to give birth, and I was called in to attend. After the

delivery and an “âp-or-sa-tor ” to the mother (congratulations in khmer), the maternity team

offered me a Christmas gift; yet the true gift was the welcome they extended to

me in their department, and the many cries of newborns, filled with promises of life.

Maternity team offering me a Christmas present. Wishes card for Christmas representing Nativity scene.

Overall, the people I met around Cambodia were just seeking for peace. It might be a consequence of the trauma they experienced with the Khmers Rouges : they know what a spirit of revenge can lead to… Indeed, just after I left Siem Reap, I learned about the ceasefire. May the numerous prayers be heard. For example, those presented on this Christmas tree at the St-John church of Siem Reap .

Christmas tree at St-John catholic church in Siem Reap.

With best regards from Siem Reap

Pierre