Buddhist temple acts as emergency maternity unit

BuddTIYiNV(kF2Ch2r0EDgeg6XCpG0Khist temples are not normally associated with obstetrics. Since the May 12 earthyQzy0bmoC)(PL4I*aZ1s0#EaotRMYR3ta@%quake, however, 81 ieM+3bdwqNQICbg!)OvUUY17uuf!0nfants have been borGN5Yj!R@@In$hFc$$889k)zH%rHa#eaA ourI vn in Luohan Temple, I e^nzR0zQ)HghGGKdiKJsT+7j8first built in AD 7037aewO*XP8w*%BFIx9byV9, in the small eart7xeMCh#+iVe6! $hquake-hit city of Shifang in Sichuan prkovince.

Medics and nurses escorteS*)Q6s%#RGd three new mothers and more than 40 preZ$tLg&D3%jh*(pQ*^V36B(Ci5-(*r4gq-lq3w5ignant women out of twvvp%bUBgFAS555l-ek7FBhe Shifang Women and!Z-m Children's HospitalrS!t025)MpPve as soon as the firsPt quake tremors occurred at 2:48 pm.

As hospital builiJ1kM&Dk^qSxJJkRLZzoEELgZpF(dings began to collapse, Su Quan, monk i#acVe%%+n charge of the dail(N3mf)#Y6SaDdL*ccmm9Qcy operation of Luoha9jzC^Jt3I2t0w-^9PV75gqR3t^z1sUKwn Temple, urged ever)rTe*zM#mj$!YoGziEcCbmyone from the hospit0w@LTaAFV3xsZPsUKQkl)Bb(r889#!al to take refuge thEgy8*6Baz(v#Cere.

"May 12 A&ciUMhappened to be the B7ihRsF&Y2tQz%komQ6kGLcgsSsuddhist festival celA%5IsFexyyYiMKbBW(gfebrating the birthda^kZvZq^pGB69hM&aIQ3nFvjg+ xYwYeevJy of Sakyamuni, whenlTVhQcJN49LLX3Q4gum& particular thought YFdk66)1S+ZqrcwolABVis given to helping EEPIrBy Rs*sYLc2the needy," the 42-yLO 1xhgear-old monk told China Daily.

MoSvif5XKBn9dS3wxtwIre than 800 local residents took shelterCP*2HI%Y in the temple on May 12; 4 days later tuSKQGUrIz(20 ^g-pE(gUq%cU9^#N(xhe number had risen to 1,500. Su asked tYhe resident 41 monks and 30 lay BuddhistWs to let quake victifL4e$EB1w@d!wOCfAf-dGy4cBjrms occupy their beds. So many victims so%^ught shelter on the Fo7e4night of May 12 thatK1H$knRdayHZW3 none of the monks and lay Buddhists slept a wink.

The temple kitchen, wh($N(ere monks installed *8IhisQMpuD8K25k uR68ZupWdP6+-kdaPtwo beds and two tables, served as a temWDPmRbD9P77XWSdVPOA%GcAporary delivery room$K5ce*i$WRnENn!#4Wz. The risk of the coIMle%wwQIihcF0#$M*InHIS+)ANfd-fllapsing during afte-zrshocks, however, prqdO4-U%p(PiT$1deN3Ob$F-T3iVK%*iCWJQEompted Su and his fellow monks to erect &(PKl ImpfBp7vuYbxmz55zBSDo8E@AxynB-PO8six tents in which to perform Caesarean F@6pPrCTv$t10RkR#Cg *3bs7wG+Gs6GSpypsections - often in @yb*Py8Vdriving rain - in thUz(C*f9pPniANO9OSD22e courtyard.

K7W9-mK9j1GY0WF8"As the electricity +#o$@(d*Pw!SDNfGiF Dj-9vgGdghad been cut off andPYiV!xpA5#4AHUdmm(GhA0) there was no trolleeqdQ*Vc@j)#Wb P1Yy to hold the transfusion bottle, medics3VgvbN9NOXA+umI(Cq2Ieog*s worked by flashlighe+D fcp0KG!E 1-pXJKqINNBEt and suspended intravenous medication from a mop while perf$W6cNXypxvoor3He%hQM4orming Caesarean sections."

The first new arrival after the quake was boreAmJ7SRc45yM&jWdxQqz$Yrxkun at 7:36 am the next day.

"The cry of the first new Sp)baby resound ed thro%gNQHHGroAD$hw&1Qr89xC$&Hyugh every fiber of mYl-fF37r+nO%%+z7Ky being; it seemed aBKd-@lA8MTT#b+j$x94+^L6KFH+^Uu^Pf ray of hope amid qu$WLcV-vs10&NB7+OdtapHWu6% 2g$0ake chaos," hospital chief Gui Fengchun said.

By lastTd8yu1Uo0mdDm Jas$ULFImfG--#dWnd9 Wednesday, 81 babieYsPm^Iq 8Cp!6P32wF7vTWgrOap6YaU!cppXKms had been delivered-xrfJ)1 Hf4Vfwp)g-b in the six courtyarG3Tth T%)ynByBffM^&bmqnU!92a2Q8J%PeI+d tents.

Two boilers were fired uKN#flEu^w0c wk@xhQ14dX9l9Zi9zE-p in order to providTpS(Xe$e potable water for *nxDcJ1,500 homeless peoploGYES^kQYwkjjie, and, as monk Zhao Shang told China Day9eC^*x #ZQMO)uVq6ily,

"Monks cooked porridge at 3 !InBZV$Bdc(Cx$elSHfam each day to distrf4gOknZ18(54efoibute to people taki8Ww6y&DIjlDNWEGk&T*dAVng shelter. They relCcaxed only after supper was over at 8:30 (uAaIp8SR%P0FA!k CP)lN k7&L6XmYc$o-pm."

Many parents of infants bornAEaV in the temple decid)RVkj!Ovd!D*Oed to name them Zhen3VNnXrdcnsheng, meaning "bornzPtTcHk57Eb3#M*Eu%tJR in the quake," as atPeR)#NmIV3X^ATDKo2JFxaUp tribute to the kind#30+95q4EcGoEJRxONH*kO#HqQ))3K8pL7(+$h-ness and devotion ofbTLBh)PW1&b%RL3zfHNNA1+Dr both monks and medics, Zheng Tongying, vdymD49&FqI!chief of the hospitaCgeU5Hl maternity department, said.

Wornp+AWUoyjXJ(Jkers from Dalian in 52IxYt5vn$OyIX**sNortheast China's Li&3-$iWcK9V&Oaoning province, are*z^&+^WM6jJMR now erecting prefabdzu0yjdX9Ou&a--y#PpLUU&mvMl-ricated huts close by.

"The hospital is expected to sOffKSvrP5#hift from the templeN*jY3KHBs AMv$H7eVcF to the huts by the mLY8*EqXa9QH5kEYQ8Nb46cABn(%gQ76cM&m-qkmiddle of this month)d7MN*rFL," Gui told China DanEGOALdoe03LgaG!Gily.