Chapter 613: A VIP Maternity Ward? Build Your Own!
A Hospital in Another World?
Garrett Nordmark stared down at her resolutely.
She was a teenager, definitely not yet twenty, with a gaunt, purplish face that still bore traces of youthful innocence. In his previous life, such a girl would likely be in school, her smile bright and spirit buoyant...
Not disheveled, dressed in tattered clothes, collapsing at his feet with a baby in her arms, pleading desperately to be spared from domestic violence and to escape a manâs torment.
He dismounted his deer, gestured, and two barbarians approached to gentlyâ as gently as barbarians couldâ help her up and sit her on the cart. Garrett stepped forward, his voice low:
"Whereâs your child?"
"I have her! I can breastfeed her! Rest assured, Master Mage, I can support her, it wonât interfere with my work at allâI promise!"
It took one barbarian on each side to hold her shoulders to prevent her from collapsing again. The womanâs husband let out a suppressed roar, but Garrett did not even glance at him as he continued to question the woman:
"Do you have any other children?"
"No! Just this one!" The womanâs voice grew louder as she saw a glimmer of hope, her swollen right eye sparkling with light. Garrett nodded:
"Do you have a place to live?"
"...May I stay in the clinic? I promise I wonât leave, not even a step, and neither will my daughter!"
Clever woman. Staying in the clinic would provide ample security protection from the elementsâand of course, from her abusive husband.
Garrett silently commended her, while sternly setting his face:
"Rest first, then you can work. But be clear, youâll be charged for food, lodging, check-ups, and treatment. Until your debts are paid, you cannot leaveâunderstand?"
"Understand! Understand!" The woman nodded vigorously with joy. Garrett waved her over:
"Come with me!"
He turned and headed toward the hospitalâs main entrance. Behind him, the man groaned deeply, yet dared not step forward to interfere.
Regretting the ongoing need for âanti-feudal propaganda,â Garrett revised the patient admission system once more:
Choose only those families where the men are clear-headed and kind to their wives! Let the mothers receive better treatment, to avoid all the hard work going to waste if, after discharge, they are abused to death by their husbands or in-laws.
We care about the wivesâ lives, and I have to do follow-up visits and track success rates!
Meanwhile, he instructed Joanna on cesarean procedures, guided the midwives, wrote medical records, and revised training materials. He also had to oversee hospital policies and finances:
Just as things were balancing out, the construction of the maternity ward created a huge financial hole!
Being a hospital director is truly no easy task!
As a junior doctor, one only needs to focus on curing the patients at hand, perhaps considering costs to avoid overcharging that the health bureau wouldnât cover, which could ultimately fall on oneâs own head.
As a department head, vertically, you need to manage all aspects of your department, and horizontally, you need to coordinate with other departments. Especially with ones like the emergency department, where urgent consultations and referrals are daily occurrences without cooperation from sibling departments, it could be fatal.
As a director, beyond clinical duties, you must be aware of the entire hospitalâs infrastructure, equipment, finances, and logistics. Departments like medical services, nursing, security, finance, equipment, information, and educationâŠ
âWhy does it feel like Iâm doing it all by myself⊠I need helpâŠâ
Garrett clutched his head in despair. Before he could lament further, Priest Donald came in to drag him to meet a guest:
âMage Nordmark? Iâm Cohen Jansen, from the Enchantment Department. I heard⊠you assist in childbirth here?â
The visitor looked somewhat familiar, though they had never spoken before. Dressed in a light purple mageâs robe woven with silver threads, he radiated charisma even as he casually glanced at a beautiful nurse passing by outside:
âCan you show me around? If itâs suitable, my sister would like to give birth hereâŠâ
Ah, this gentleman from the Enchantment Department should know that most of our nurses are essentially skeletons in disguiseâthereâs no need for his charms to be on constant displayâŠ
Aside from his charm, his request was indeed genuine. The proportion of female mages in the Enchantment Department is indeed the highest among the eight categoriesâ
Adding a note, the lowest is the Black Crow Swamp, where female necromancers constitute less than a tenth of their number. As for whether they have spouses or reproductive needs, considering the overall style of Black Crow Swamp, itâs tough.
Garrett stood up to shake his hand, curiously asking:
âMage Jansen, what brought you here? Who used to take care of
your sisterâs childbirth?â
âHey, there wasnât any spellcaster to help before.â The visitor almost sighed:
âThere are three sects in Nevis, the Church of Nature is always in chaos, hard to find someone; the War Godâs Temple doesnât handle this; the Spring Goddessâs Temple claims to care for women and children butâŠâ
But the relationship between the Spring Goddessâs Temple and the Magic Council is also the worst. Not out of hatred, but a kind of aloof coldness, usually maintaining a polite distance.
In such a situation, placing the safety of a pregnant woman in their hands is not reassuring for mages. Besides, the priests of the Spring Goddess, 70% male and 30% female, with most women being lifelong virgins dedicated to chastityâŠ
Relying on them for childbirth might as well just hire a midwife. At least theyâre experienced, and if really worried, just have a healer wait outside the curtain and blindly cast healing spells.
âBut we have a medical branch too!â Garrett expressed surprise. The Curse Departmentâs medical branch, not too many nor too few, generally sufficient to take care of all the mages in Nevis:
âWhy not ask them to come over?â
âIn the medical branch of mages, women are also few, and those who have given birth are even fewer⊠itâs hard to arrangeâŠâ The visitor wanted to cry:
âAnd, I heard that you open up the abdomen here to deliver the baby?â
So thatâs the case. With Garrettâs understanding of the medical branch, they tend to devote themselves to researching spells and developing various magic potions. What about surgery?
Please, thatâs a job for the neighboring necromancers! Only those folks are willing to deal with the bloody, messy business!
There are exceptions, but they are rare. Specifically, female medical mages who have given birth and are willing to perform deliveries are indeed rareâŠ
Understanding this, Garrett didnât lead him to see the wards immediately, but first invited him to sit down and pulled out the medical records. To date, the maternity ward had accommodated over fifty pregnant women, with thirty natural births, eight cesareans, and the rest still awaiting delivery:
All mothers and children were safe.
Mage Jansenâs eyes brightened as he read. Those women weak in strength, with transverse or breech presentations, or with umbilical cord complications... all had safely delivered?
Even healing spells couldnât achieve this!
Healing spells, when encountering such cases, besides giving some strength support to the mothers, could only hope for the best. And the demand for healing during childbirth was like a black hole of divine power!
âPlease, you must show me! If the conditions are right, my sister will give birth here!â
Garrett graciously agreed and led him to the maternity ward. As they entered, a nurse pushing a cart with a large wooden basin passed by, and a mix of blood and foul odors immediately assaulted their noses. Mage Jansen frowned on the spot:
âIsnât there a cleaning spell here? Does it always smell this bad?â
âŠSorry, no. We do have disinfectant, and we mop the floors with it daily, but that hardly keeps the various indescribable odors at bayâŠ
Mage Jansen walked a few more steps and randomly pushed open a ward door. Inside, three hospital beds were aligned, each occupied by a womanâtwo holding infants, and another with a conspicuously swollen belly, moaning softly.
Mage Jansen frowned again:
âIs there a private room available?â
âSorry, our space is limited, we canât afford to build so many roomsâŠâ
Mage Jansen fell silent, his face stiff as he surveyed the surroundings, his frown deepening with each observation. The walls were stark white, obviously recently plastered with cement and then painted with lime;
The blankets and sheets were made of coarse cloth, looking quite worn, with large pale brown patches where blood stains had not been washed out;
No carpets, no smooth wooden floors, just rough cementâŠ
He stepped out of the ward and continued down the corridor. From the delivery room at the end of the hall, the screams of at least five or six women in labor echoed one after another.
âIs there no separate delivery room?â
Garrett looked into his eyes, regretfully shaking his head:
âSorry, as you can see, we serve impoverished mothers here. Every penny is spent where itâs most needed, and the conditions canât be improved further.â
Mage Jansen clenched his brow, head bowed, hands behind his back, turning in place three times. Letting his sister give birth here was unbearable; yet not allowing her to do so, those previous cases of mother and child safety powerfully tempted himâŠ
âCanât you really provide better conditions? Really canât we just reserve one ward? One delivery room?â
Before Garrett could respond, he started shaking his head:
âNo, no. The walls are too thin, the noise too loud
, the ventilation too poorâreserving one ward wouldnât solve the problem at all!â
Garrett watched his eyes, lips pursed, resolutely silent. Complaining about the public hospitalâs maternity conditions? Wanting good medical care and rest for the mother?
Reserve a private room then!
Go to the neighboring VIP building!
If all else failsâŠ
âIs there still space at the medical clinic? Can our family build our own building?â
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