WAINGMAW & MYITKYINA, Kachin State — Noticing she had a growing abdomen, 22-year-old ethnic Kachin woman Nang Tsin went to the only immediately available healthcare service nearby—a midwife. When the midwife revealed she was pregnant, Nang Tsin’s face grew flushed in front of the health worker, as the young woman had been seeing a local man in secret.
“My waistline became very obvious,” Nang Tsin, an internally displaced person (IDP) said, recalling the discovery of her pregnancy about six months ago as she nursed her two-month-old boy inside a 15 square-foot room of bamboo matting.
The midwife sent her for an emergency scan at the nearest clinic and the result showed that the baby was due in less than four months. When The Irrawaddy asked if she was aware of what caused her pregnancy, she responded, “I didn’t know,” with a soft voice.
Nang Tsin is one of some 150 women aged between 18 and 35 living at St. Joseph Mai Na Camp for IDPs in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State. The camp currently houses 1,472 people who fled from nearby villages, mostly in Waingmaw Township.
The camp has sheltered ethnic Kachin fleeing conflict since the 17-year-old ceasefire agreement between the Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army broke down in 2011. To date, more than 100,000 have been displaced.
Even though doctors and nurses visited Kachin camps to raise awareness about reproductive health, Nang Tsin said she could not attend the talks as she was at school.
When The Irrawaddy visited the camp last week, women with infants wrapped in a blanket either on their backs or close to their chests was a common sight. According to the camp management, there are 74 children under two years old in the camp.