Indonesia - Bali-Based Midwife in Bid for CNN Hero

More than 20 years ago, a series of tragic events changed Robin Lim’s life forever: her sister, her best friend and the midwife who helped her when she gave birth all lost their lives in the same year.

“Three people, all females, that you love died. You have to decide why you are living,” she said.

Two years later, Lim, a US citizen, decided to move to Ubud, Bali with her family and start over.

“We were reinventing our life,” she said of the reason she and her husband made the transition. “And we heard that Bali had a reputation for strong family values, that parents really take good care of their children.”

Lim’s sister had died while giving birth, despite being in a modern hospital in the United States. A midwife herself, Robin already had a strong commitment to natural childbirth and a link to Asia ­­— she is half Filipino­ and spent part of her childhood in the Philippines, where her maternal grandmother was a traditional birthing assistant.

Today Lim is known to many as Ibu Robin, or Mother Robin, and leads a non-profit, donation-based organization called Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Healthy Mother Earth Foundation) that focuses on prenatal care, maternal health and child survival.

Why Bumi Sehat?

Lim is one of ten people nominated as a CNN Hero for 2011 for her role in helping thousands of babies and mothers through Bumi Sehat.

The clinic came about after Lim saw what pregnant women in the village where they lived had to go through to get health services.

“Back then, pregnant women had to go to Denpasar for health services. People didn’t have transportation so often they had to borrow a motorbike to go to a hospital in Denpasar,” the mother of eight said.

“We’re talking about Ubud 20 years ago, where things were so much different from what you see today. Sitting on the back of a motorbike passing through roads that were nothing like today is really tough when you are pregnant.”

As a result of inadequate access to health services, the mortality rate among mothers and babies was high, she said. Lim, who was then pregnant, also found it difficult to access health care.

“It was hard for me to find prenatal care for myself,” said Lim, who is turning 55 next month. “In most cases then in Bali, pregnant women risked, and died, of postpartum hemorrhages or excessive bleeding during childbirth. And the number is still very, very high. I thought there should be a way to save women and their babies.”

World Health Organization data shows that Indonesia has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in Southeast Asia.

In 1994, using her skills as a midwife, Lim began to provide free health care for pregnant women and little children in her home in Nyuh Kuning village in Ubud. She also gave birth to Bumi Sehat.

The Vision

The mission of Bumi Sehat, Lim said, is based on a foundation of three very simple principles. “Respect for nature, respect for culture and the wise implementation of the science of medicine,” she said. “These are things that are often neglected, while they should all go together.”

Today, Lim said, basic conditions have improved greatly in Bali. With better transportation, hospitals and health centers are no longer difficult to find, and medical service is better. But another problem remains.

“If they don’t have the money to pay, what do they do? It is common in countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and many places in the world for mothers to leave their babies at the hospital because they cannot pay. The babies are hostages. That’s a huge problem,” she said.

“It is sad knowing that financial strain stops people from getting access to their right to health care.”

Through the years, Bumi Sehat has expanded its offerings by also providing general health services, emergency care, breastfeeding support and education and environmental programs. In addition to that, Lim has also enlisted Bumi Sehat in a 24/7 emergency care and free ambulance service operating in Bali.

Beyond Bali

Following the 2004 Tsunami in Aceh, Bumi Sehat established an emergency clinic for mothers and babies in the devastated area, collaborating with local dukun bayi, or traditional birth attendants. Today, it offers not only maternal care but also family health, emergency and in-patient services.

Similar services were also provided by Bumi Sehat for victims of the massive earthquake in Haiti in January 2010. With money from her daughter and son-in-law, Lim flew to the country to lend a hand. “There is now a Bumi Sehat maternal and child survival clinic in Jacmel, Haiti,” she said.

The Bumi Sehat message of natural childbirth and a more holistic approach to health also draws people to the clinic who can afford health services, including a handful of local celebrities, Lim said. “We have people, mothers, from all walks of life, sometimes famous people, and a lot of foreigners who choose to give birth here. Gentle birthing is one of the services we offer,” she said.

Asked what she hopes to do if she wins the CNN Heroes award for 2011, Lim said she wants to use the money — a prize of $250,000 — to build a new clinic in Ubud.

“The one that we have now [in Ubud] is not really safe in terms of being earthquake-resistant. The recent earthquake that hit Bali has destroyed some parts of it,” she said.

“The Bumi Sehat clinic in Aceh is so much better because it was built following the massive disaster so people knew what sort of construction they had to build in earthquake-prone areas. And I hope to build one in Ubud.”

Finally, despite her seemingly tireless work on behalf of women and babies, Lim says she does not want to be called a hero.

“The real heroes are the mothers giving birth,” she said.

Ade Mardiyati

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