For any pregnant woman, whether she is preparing for pregnancy, expecting to give birth, or experiencing extremely high-risk and painful childbirth, it takes courage. If she faces it alone in an unfamiliar overseas country, more determination and perseverance than ordinary people are needed. The pregnant migrant workers we have contacted and assisted are such a group of brave mothers. Most of the pregnant migrant workers who choose to give birth in Taiwan do so because their husbands are working in Taiwan at the same time, and they hope that the new life that is ushered in their family can grow up happily with the company of their parents.
On Friday evenings, outside the Indonesian shelter of SPA, there will always be a few migrant workers sitting. They are the husbands of migrant worker mothers or mothers-to-bes in the shelter. Even though they come from different factories in different places, they all have the same mood: after getting off work from a factory, they just can’t wait to reunite with their dear wives and children on the weekend. They stayed at the door of the shelter either quietly or excitedly, until their wife came out with the baby, ready to spend a rare holiday together.
A migrant mother Yang-Di and her husband are one of the couples. Yang-Di, with a gentle voice, just gave birth to a beautiful daughter two months ago. Her husband comes to the shelter on time every week to accompany her and their baby, which also makes the relationship between them even sweeter. Yang-Di said that it is very hard to take care of a baby alone, but because her husband is a very responsible person, she decided to stay here bravely to have their child. The couple have also agreed that when their work contracts expire, they will take their daughter back to their homeland together.
We have watched many migrant workers of childbearing age start their own families in Taiwan, experience the joys of parenthood together, and then learn about it diligently and lovingly. Some people once misunderstood that female migrant workers in Taiwan gave birth to babies with unknown fathers. In fact, this is not the case. All of the migrant worker parents are full of responsibility. Like many Taiwanese parents, they work hard to support their families and hope to provide for their children a living environment that would be getting better and better.
The Shelter of SPA always stands behind these migrant worker mothers. Whenever they need it, whether in the confusion when they are just confirmed to be pregnant or the tension before and after childbirth, we give them full support, proper care and recuperation. We always accompany these mothers to see a doctor and go through relevant procedures for newborns, so that these migrant worker parents who are not around their families can also have a safe haven in Taiwan.
If Taiwanese society is willing to give more understanding and tolerance to these migrant worker parents, we will find that they, like us, are eager to do their best to protect their loved ones at these important moments of life and give them happiness.