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The newest Midwife House in Tokyo

“Be Born” is the name of the new midwife house that I visited in Tokyo. It is in a suburban area, some distance from the downtown area, and is surrounded by regular houses. The building itself is new, and is still being completed, with tradesmen working to finish the “garden” area and complete the installation of the air conditioning and other fittings inside.

This house is owned by Yuriko Tatsuno, a midwife and acupuncturist who also specialises in Ayuvedic medicine and several other forms of complementary therapies. The building has one birth room, a general treatment room and bathroom area downstairs and a lounge and three bedrooms for postnatal stays upstairs, together with a kitchen.

It was party day when we arrived, celebrating the opening of the new midwife house. The house was crowded with visitors, including midwives, women, fathers and babies, all sharing stories and checking out the facilities. As luck would have it, there was a birth going on in the downstairs birth room, while we partied on upstairs - this was the third baby born in the house.

It is a modern building, not at all like the other midwife house in the downtown area, but as it settles down, I am sure that a cosiness of a modern variety will develop. The bathroom area was very large by Japanese standards, with the usual small, very deep sunken bath and a large flat area with two hand-held showers. Apparently, after the birth, the woman is laid on a special bed brought into the bathroom, and given a shower. Her hair is washed and she is given a massage treatment as well. Sounds very pleasant!

It was busy the day we were there and it would be good to visit again when things had settled down and it wasn’t so crowded. I am sure I could have learned a lot from Yuriko who has a wealth of experience to share. Perhaps next time.

Posted by andrea at December 20, 2005 01:10 PM