How do you say “obstetrician” in Khmer?

An expat women we know has had trouble explaining what her father’s job is. When Khmer friends ask her she explains he is a doctor who helps deliver babies, but not a midwife.

She ask Soeun what the word for “obstetrician” in Khmer is. He said as far as he knows the midwife does it all. Our friend asked “But what happens if it’s a complicated birth?" 

I think she wanted to know who they would call if it got too much for the mid wife to handle.

Kimsoeun’s face was still blank, I don’t think he had heard of such a doctor.

When his mum gave birth to his younger siblings it was just him and an old lady from the neighbourhood help at the birth. There are people who train as midwives at nursing schools, but Soeun said they probably didn’t want to go to remote villages after they study, so often an old lady will do the job as a mid wife.

 Now days there are some better hospitals in Phnom Penh where people who can afford that sort of health care go, and perhaps they do have obstetricians there? We ‘re not sure, but it’s seems like something the average Cambodian hasn’t heard about.

 So it’s no wonder that “437 mothers per 100,000 live births (died) in 2005 “ . (Phnom Penh Post jan 2009)

Click on the quote below to see the full article. 

"Maternal mortality will continue to be a problem so long as the majority of mothers are using traditional midwives [non-schooled family or community members] to give birth, especially rural people," she said.