Midwife Hunting Pt 2

I had some ideas what a typical midwife does... prepares herbal & steam bath, lathers some funny smelling paste onto forehead & tummy, massages for hours (i like this one, i do.. i even have some ideas which areas she should focus more), and tends to the baby. Oh yeah, even wrap you up with a bengkung. But what i don't really know is.. which comes first, and how long will each session take.. and most importantly, how do i balance nursing with all these?

Husband, on the other hand, never saw any of these because back in the kampung, everyone DIYs. Well that's what he says anyway. And obviously, nobody really had sat down with him and taught him the basics of Malay confinement. But being a technical guy, he wants to know all he can, so he told me to get some referrals from friends who reside nearby.

From my conversation with friends, most of them had traditional bidan came over. But none of them went into specifics, which i was disappointed because i really wanted to know more. All they said was, they only pay on the basis of sincerity and they had to pick the lady up. 

So yes, the one recommended by my colleague stood out from the rest. Maybe because this colleague had described in such detail (cost, scope, experience) so I was sold on that. Mom had earlier gave her a call, and knowing how much they have in common, she literally would remind me everyday to book this lady. 

I called her one night, and to sum it up in points:

• She stays in Selayang, which is not that far from Keramat
• Available packages: 3 days (RM 6++), 7 days (RM 13++), 14 days (RM 26++), 21 days (i didn't ask)
• Apart from everything bidan, she cooks as well
• Transportation included
• Will also bring extra paste/herbal mix for sale, should we need more after her service ends
• Medical background so no hanky panky mambo jumbo pawang stuff. Speaks fluent English (most senior trained nurses are) as well
• Deposit RM 100, balance to be paid upon job completion
• She has assistants that could do the job in case you still want her packages but she's unavailable. 

Alhamdulillah, she's available on my due date. I'm not too worried if I deliver earlier, because as a former nurse, I'm pretty sure she has considered this prior to confirming my booking.  May everything goes smoothly as planned, InsyaAllah.