Vio talked to an assistant on the floor and she called for the doctor, but he was delivering another baby.  Then she took us into a room where two or three women were going to give birth; I followed Ema into the room, still holding her hand to help with the pain and her fear of the hospital because it was very old and looked unclean. I expected that I would be able to go in the room with her to deliver the baby. A doctor in the room yelled at her, ?Are you still in Kindergarten and need someone to hold your hand??  With this insult from a health professional, Ema turned around and went into the hall weeping. I held her. She wanted to run, but the pain was killing her. She said she just wanted to leave this hospital, but I told her she couldn?t go now, she was about to have the baby any minute. Then, a female doctor came from somewhere, and asked Ema what was wrong. She was very nice. We told her that she had been in labor all night. The doctor rushed to get a wheel chair and took her to an examination room downstairs. After a few minutes, the doctor came out and said that we got her to the hospital just in time, that Ema would have the baby in the next half an hour.

They took Ema back upstairs to the maternity ward. I had to wait down the hall, at the stairs, where there was a half door at the entrance. An assistant would come and go from the room every five minutes or so and she would give us updates. After about twenty minutes the doctor came. I wanted to talk with the doctor, to give him the extra money that I knew I had to pay him ? about $300 and to remind him that we had asked that Ema be moved to a private room right away after the birth. We stopped him for a second when he arrived, but he said to talk to him afterwards, that he would come and find me.

I heard Ema screaming in the room and I was very worried about what was happening.  After another twenty minutes, I really had to go to the bathroom and to call work to tell them that we were at the hospital to have the baby. So I went as fast as I could. When I came back, Vio said that Ema had the baby and that she was OK. I was so excited then. After about five more minutes they brought little baby Maya out in an incubation box and the nurse stopped to show her to me. I could swear that Maya was looking at me when I called her name and said hello. Of course, she could just hear my voice and maybe smell me?they say that they recognize your voice from when they were in the womb. My eyes filled with tears from pure joy. Then they took Maya to the room with the other babies.

We asked for the doctor then, but he had left. So, I couldn?t give him the money then and get Ema moved to the private room. The nurses told us that we should bring Ema some food, because they didn?t have any food at this part of the hospital. I went to go see Ema in the delivery room and they brought Maya back for us to both see and hold briefly. We were both so happy. But Ema was very tired, in pain and hungry. So, I told her we would go make her food at her friend Adi?s cousin?s apartment down the street and come back with it as soon as possible. We came back an hour and a half later with some meat and potatoes for her. In that time the doctor hadn?t come back, and since the doctor wasn?t paid, they assistants didn?t move her to another room or do much of anything to help her. She was still on a bed in the delivery room. The assistants said that the doctor went home. I got a little angry then, and I could see that Ema was upset. So we went to page the doctor on his cell phone. Luckily, he was still in the hospital and came to the maternity ward to meet us right away. I gave him his money and some more money to the nurses and assistants. Everyone?s attitude changed right away then and they cleaned up Ema and moved her to the private wing, which was liked another world of cleanliness, care and service, with fresh healthy food for all the meals, cable TV and two beds in a private room so I could stay too. The room was just $30 a night. Maya had to stay in the maternity ward so the nurses could watch her, but Ema went every three hours to the ward to feed her.

I found out later that the way the doctor delivered the baby was through methods over 50 years old. Ema was laying flat on her back with her legs in stirrups ? this is very dangerous for the mother and the baby. It is very painful for the mother and it isn?t conducive to the birth. Also, the nurses were pushing on Ema?s belly to get the baby out, which is also very dangerous. If the baby wasn?t coming, they should have given Ema a hormone shot to dilate her more, if the water had broken. The health care workers were working like barbarians in medieval conditions, not like modern day doctors. I got very angry about what happened and felt very lucky that both Ema and the baby came through the labor in good health at the end. We decided that we would not have another baby in Romania in these health care conditions with attitudes and knowledge of these doctors.