For the delivery of her first born, Colleen Turner was in a hospital in China for a week with induced labour. The Turners moved to Thailand 2 years ago and Colleen is currently an Assistant Principal at Bangkok Chicago Christian International School. For their second child’s delivery the Turners chose Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital where Colleen had a smooth water delivery giving birth to a healthy baby boy in just about an hour after arriving at the hospital.  

Our home country is the U. S. and we have been living and working in Thailand as teachers for two years. We had our first child, who’s two years old now, in China. When we decided to come to Thailand we looked for recommendations of doctors who would support natural birth, and we were highly recommended Dr. Kanoknat Boonvisudhi. We followed her here, even though we were 38 weeks pregnant then, because we had heard such great things about her. My experience with her has been wonderful. 

I just really appreciated Dr. Kanoknat, especially for how comfortable she makes her patients feel. I usually hate going to see a doctor but I actually really enjoyed coming to see her. In fact I looked forward to my appointments because she's just really nice. Visiting an OB can be kind of an uncomfortable experience for a lot of people since it's a private affair but she always made me feel really comfortable. 

I was a little bit worried at first about the delivery process, as for my first born it took so long and I was in the hospital for a week with induced labor. However, for this delivery the process was really smooth. From the time we got to the hospital, to the time I gave birth, I think it all happened within about an hour - 6:11am was when my baby was born. It all was very fast.  

That morning, I woke up 3:20am due to contractions but since they weren’t all that intense I was considering whether to wake Anthony, my husband, up. Finally I decided that I should because he hadn’t packed his bag. Shortly after that my water broke, things got intense. As soon as my nanny arrived home, we left for the hospital.   

Dr Kanoknat was there five minutes before me. We got checked in after which she showed me to the room and suggested I got into the bath tub which I hadn’t originally planned for. I decided to try it to see if the water would helped make my contractions easier to handle. I was also impressed by the monitor, the foetus monitoring I think it’s called. It's portable and you can go in the water with it, which I'd never seen before. It was kind of cool. After briefly being in the tub, I began to feel like I needed to push my baby out, but I also thought it must be too soon as when I came into the hospital I was only at five centimetres. Then all of a sudden my body started pushing and I was like no it's too soon, it’s not time yet. My doctor gave me a little nudge saying if you feel like it's time, then go ahead and push. By then there wasn't time for me to leave the bath tub.  

The other thing that I feel was especially nice about Dr. Kanoknat is just how she stayed with me the whole time which is uncommon for many doctors. Maybe she knew it was going to be fast but she was with me the entire time. She was also pouring hot water down my back to help me feel better. Dr. Kanoknat is just such a kind lady. 

Last time, when I was being induced, it just was not happening. I mean it was really hard to get through that. This time, the contractions were a lot easier to handle. I think that may be due to the heat and the relaxing effects of the water, plus the weight the water takes off you, all of these combined just made the contractions a lot easier to bear. The water was just so comforting. I would definitely do a water birth again. For sure!  

After delivery they took me upstairs. The room was really nice and comfortable. The nurses were extremely helpful, helping me to go the bathroom, take a shower and clean up. Another thing about giving birth here was the infrared treatment used. It’s not something they do in China, or as far as I know, the US. The heat felt a little strange but extremely comforting.  

Everybody was just so nice, so kind and helpful. I don't remember everybody’s name, but the Neo Natal Doctor I had was so cool. Just how excited she was that I was producing milk that I think she might have jumped up and down. Then there was the lactation consultant who is a super woman. She would suggest some small adjustments and with that everything got so much better. She definitely has superpowers. It was overall a great experience. In fact I was telling my husband that we should come back to Thailand for our third baby. 

There is nothing negative to say. There were worries that the hospital would take the baby away to the nursery for long, but I was really impressed with how they let my little one stay in the room with me, gave me time to have skin to skin contact with my little one after birth. Everybody was really respectful and supportive of my birth plan. Just no negative experience, it was all really positive.