I was born and raised in a poor mountainous region of Tay Nguyen in Vietnam. The health care services for women and children at this place is still underdeveloped. The hospitals are miles away and most of the newborns and their mothers are taken care by the midwives.
My mother is one of the midwives in Tay Nguyen who is always ready to help anyone in need. She always guides and takes care of mothers and their newborns. I still remember an incident when I was very young, one night around midnight, despite the heavy rain a neighbor came to our house running to ask my mom to help his wife who was in labor. Without hesitation, my mother gathered her reproductive health kit and followed the man to his house. My mother’s quick action left a beautiful mark in my mind and from that moment I knew I wanted to become a midwife. I said to myself – “I will become a midwife and help everyone in my hometown as my mother did”. When I turned 18 years, I decided to enroll for medical university and opted to study midwifery.
My first practical experience was not a good one. I was assigned to help a pregnant woman who was 28 weeks, unfortunately the baby was a still born. The mother cried a lot and I was very sad, scared and did not know what to do. All I wanted is to make every pregnant woman happy, I wanted to help them deliver safely. The following days were very difficult for me, every time I entered the delivery room I felt nauseous, all I could see was the face of the baby who died. At this moment, I did not want to be a midwife anymore. I felt sick and was admitted into a hospital. I observed how nurses were taking care of patients with a smile on their face without complaining. Right then I realized my true calling is taking care of mothers and newborns and I must be strong. I went back to university, graduated in 2015 and was assigned to work at a provincial hospital.
In 2016, a Workmanship contest was held in the hospital where I work. I participated in all three rounds (The Theory, practice and finals) and won the first prize! I was so happy with my achievements, people started calling me “the Rose of the Hospital”. I know that I still have a long way to go and I will keep on practicing and refreshing my knowledge through studies because I want to be a good midwife with the right skills.
Despite of the challenges that I might face on the way, I want to develop the midwifery profession in Vietnam. I want to establish an organization which will take care and protect mothers and children. I would like to be the bridge between midwives in my country and midwives in the world. I envision an organization that will provide counseling and care for mothers and children. I hope we will always help them. We will always be their representative. We will care and protect them, because we are midwives.