Escape from a warzone
Our Yemeni friend has just arrived in Jordan with her sister who is 36 weeks pregnant. They were so glad to manage to get out of their city, where bombs are frequently falling in random residential areas. One of the first priorities was to find a doctor and hospital for the upcoming birth. Also she had a previous c-section when her son was born and so was planning for a c-section again.
Chaotic hospital
Our friend had a doctor contact at Al Basheer Hospital, which is a large government hospital, and so we turned up as arranged at 8am. We called the doctor but he didn't answer. The maternity unit was crowded and had a confusing system with women lining up in different queues. Since we couldn't contact the doctor, I (Kate) stood in one of the queues to start saving a place in case we needed it.
Skipping the queue
Finally after 20 minutes the doctor answered our calls and came to the maternity unit. He told us that we didn't need to queue and took us through an area that was "guarded" by strict ladies who prevented the general public going into that area. After visiting various offices, our pregnant friend was taken for an ultrasound whilst we waited in a reception area.
A quick scan
Eventually she returned and said that after a quick scan she was told the baby was fine and head was down. It seems that they didn't do a very thorough scan and didn't take any measurements of the baby. After more waiting the doctor gave us a paper and told us to go to the outpatients department to get a stamp then take the paperwork to the Yemeni Embassy and they would authorise free treatment.
Wasta
The only problem was that the doctor left and we needed to go back the way we came through the area with the strict ladies! So I took the lead and told the women guarding the door that we needed to go through. Since I was a foreigner they let me (with my friends) through! Sometimes it can be beneficial to be a foreigner as people treat them with more respect.
We went to the outpatients clinic which was even more crowded than the maternity unit! After pushing our way through to the reception we asked for the correct office for the paperwork. We found our way to the office of the head of the department and again being a foreigner, I took the paperwork and walked straight in and got it stamped! My Yemeni friend said "You're our 'wasta' mediator". Wasta is an important concept here which is when you have people who have connections or the respect of others so that they are able to help you get things done.
We finally left the hospital and went to the Yemeni Embassy only to be told that they couldn't offer any free health-care. My friend was very disappointed but I talked to some of my old work colleagues from the University and they recommended paying for the c-section at a private hospital as it would be better and cheaper than the busy Al Basheer Hospital.
Everything worked out in the end
Thankfully a few days later we had a very different experience at the clinic of one of the University doctors who was very caring and helpful and has arranged to do the c-section on 3rd March at a cheap private hospital.
