This past month held a lot of sweet, special things for me as far as life and midwifery. First was the second birthday of our sweet baby girl, which also marked the two year anniversary of the wonderful month my family got to spend here in Kenya with Kristin when she came to serve us and catch our baby.  That was a time I will always treasure in my heart.

Adali's 2nd birthday

Next we celebrated the one year birthday of sweet Jarah – a baby I had the great honor of catching last year.  Being a part of her birth was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I wrote about it for Charis last year and if you didn’t get to read it then, I encourage you to check it out.  It will give you an up close and very personal perspective of what birth is often like in Africa, how incredible African mamas are, and why holistic midwifery ministry is so desperately needed here!  You can read the amazing story HERE. 

Jarah's 1st birthday

Lastly, I taught a childbirth preparation class for my very dear friend, Maureen, who oversees Mercy House – an incredible ministry right here in Kenya that serves abused pregnant teenage girls who live in abject poverty.  They take in the girls, provide them with all their prenatal care and birth services, counseling, high school education, spiritual guidance, job skills training, and a financial account for them to start a new life after their graduation from the 2-3 year program.  You can learn more about Mercy House HERE.

I’ve found that most women in Kenya are terrified of birth largely due to the fear of the unknown, coupled with the horror stories they have heard.  Maureen is the opposite.  She was terrified of birth because she has attended the births of the Mercy House girls that were traumatic due to the fact that the girls have suffered unimaginable abuse (usually rape/incest) and they are incredibly young and their bodies not fully developed (as young as 12!).  Maureen has witnessed many births, but because of the extreme circumstances, none of them were the beautiful, peaceful, empowering experiences we as midwives and doulas work so hard to facilitate.  Needless to say, Maureen’s idea of “normal” when it comes to birth was anything but!  On top of that she shared with me that in the last couple years she has several close personal friends who have either died in childbirth or lost their baby during or shortly after birth.  Furthermore, Maureen is terrified of getting a C-section because her mother recently passed away during an operation.  But as scary and painful as that thought is to her, she told me that she and her husband were trying to convince their doctor to give her a C-section so they could avoid the horror of “normal” birth altogether.

Jannekah, Maureen and her husband

I got to spend a whole day with Maureen talking about God’s incredible design for childbirth and what it was REALLY intended to be like.  We learned what and why the body does what it does during labor and how and why to work with the process instead of against it.  Mostly things I’ve learned through Charis, along with things I’ve learned from my own births of course.  We looked at lots of pictures, watched some short videos of beautiful, peaceful labors and birth (including one of my own=), and worked with several visual aides that kept the learning fun and brought what we were learning to life. One of my favorite things in life is to watch mamas listen and learn in total amazement and to literally be able see the fear melting away, being replaced by empowerment, and even excitement. 

And sure enough when the class was over Maureen told me, “I have learned SO much! And I can’t believe it – the thing I was so afraid of, I’m now looking forward to!”  Oh my goodness, what sweet sweet words, and what an honor to get to be a part of such a very important heart and mind transformation!  Though she had attended many births, she had no idea how beautiful birth can be, and was intended to be. 

I’m HOPING and PRAYING the timing will work out for me to attend Maureen’s labor and birth to help her apply the things she learned in the class and have the kind of birth experience she saw for the very first time, and now believes she can have.  But even if I can’t be there, I’m so thankful that she now has the tools to embrace the process and to work with it instead of fight against it in utter fear.  She told me that she’s had some “pre-labor” contractions and she just laid on the couch screaming and crying the whole time!  Now she knows it’s pain with a purpose and there are things she can do to not only cope with it, but to make it even more purposeful and effective in the wonderful work it is doing in bringing her baby closer to her arms.  Maureen is also adamant that I teach classes for the girls at Mercy House now – something I would LOVE to do, as well as being a labor support for them some day!  But in the meantime I am thankful that Maureen is better equipped and that truth and faith are replacing her fear.  I pray that it will spill over to the girls of Mercy House through Maureen and her newly acquired knowledge and the glorious birth experience I pray she’ll have in just a week or two.

Please remember to pray for Maureen and the girls of Mercy House!