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Life In Ukraine
Competent,
Compassionate Care
for Birthing Women in Ukraine
Architectural plans for renovating the mother-baby center (a
home for pregnant women in crisis pregnancy) are complete, and
next we are working on writing other documents like vision and
mission, beliefs, outline of the program, etc. Also, we want a
regular post-abortion Bible study group to be functioning in
Kiev so we can send clients there, if needed. And so many women
here have asked for this already! So Olya and I are currently
leading the first group, three ladies, through Forgiven & Set
Free, a post-abortion Bible study. We met last Friday and
Saturday, and we will meet this Friday and Saturday and have our
concluding service and last lesson Sunday evening. We are
praying that God will raise up women who can commit to leading
this group on a regular basis.
Pray for us. The mother-baby center needs good planning—to see
some of what God wants for us in the near and distant future—and
the three ladies going through the Bible study are being opened,
touched, and healed. We are very grateful to be working here!
For more current details, visit my
blog.
Victoria, Anne, Vitaliy and Skyla Sokol
What are some
of Anne's concerns for childbirth in Ukraine that moved her
toward this tremendous mission? Let's ask her!
I
will start by talking about the stressful conditions under which
Ukrainian birth professionals are sometimes/often required to
work. Underpaid and overworked are great descriptives.
Salaries
are paid by the government
and are very low.
The
anesthtologist we met is paid $150/month for his job. And to
give you an idea of how ridiculous that is, we pay $550/month
just to rent a 2-room apartment, and that is a low rent!
Hopefully this man owns his own apartment, which may mean living
with parents and other relatives as is usual here. How does this
affect a birthing woman? Well, she’s expected to personally pay
the birth team that helps her (for her “free” health care), and
often nice treatment is based on this. In order to survive,
Obstetricians and other birth house workers are “forced” to
angle their jobs so that the patients will pay them personally
for their services. If you as a laboring woman don’t pay the
staff personally–maybe you don’t have the money–you could be
treated terribly, which often happened with our elder pastor’s
wife.
Overworked
I
once talked with a Christian labor/delivery nurse here, and she
was in tears describing how she would be left alone to care for
nine women in labor. Nine women who have no other care but what
she gives them–no family members, no doula, no other staff.
So, in citing my concerns about birth houses in Ukraine, I
include my sympathy for the injustices that birth workers
themselves face. It does not excuse their sometimes cruel
behavior, but I do have compassion for their often unfair
situations.
Anne's concerns
for
Ukrainian women in birth
The illegal use of cytotec to induce labor
I
don’t know if this is widespread, but I know that at least in
one birth house in Kiev, cytotec is used to induce labor. It is
bought from Russia and used illegally–it is not legal to use
during labor here–and not charted. To my knowledge, the laboring
women themselves do not even know it is being inserted into them
during a vaginal exam.
Cruel and demeaning treatment during labor
I
know this is subjective and depends on the worker and his/her
character, but I’ve heard enough stories to make me think this
type of treatment is fairly widespread, however changing
somewhat as Ukraine becomes more modern. I will simply tell some
of the stories women have told me:
-Being yelled at during labor: “Shut up!” “Can’t you hurry up?!
My son has a school program soon!”
-Not being consulted about or informed of what interventions are
used during labor. Being strong-armed into doing/agreeing to
whatever the birth house workers want.
-In one birth house (again, I’m not sure if this practice is
widespread), the women were not allowed to push until the staff
saw the baby’s head crowning. One nurse threw cold water on a
woman’s face because she was pushing before this time. Throwing
water on birthing women is not uncommon in this particular birth
house.
Non-family-friendly atmosphere
Husbands are not encouraged to be with their wives during birth,
usually not allowed. It’s changing somewhat now, but most women
still birth alone. And the baby is often separated from her and
kept in a nursery.
Poor medical practices
For
example, I don’t know what an episiotomy is in this country, but
if a woman is cut here, she literally cannot sit for a month or
so. She must stand or lie down. Also, catgut is routinely used
to suture uterine incisions. Catgut dissolves so quickly, it may
not be sufficient time for a good scar to form. This is
detrimental to women desiring VBAC. If a woman here even finds a
doctor who will let her try a VBAC, s/he requires an ultrasound
at 38 weeks. If the scar measures greater than 3 cm, it is
considered acceptable to try VBAC.
Selling babies
Ukraine has a serious past of harvesting newborn organs and
selling babies (telling moms their babies had died, when in
reality they hadn’t, or the doctors had killed them for organs).
This was/is done in birth houses by the doctors to get money.
The World Health Organization reports that birth outcomes for
moms and babies are improving. I (and not only I) am very leery
of reported statistics from Ukraine. A Ukrainian woman who works
with the government told me that when she reads a statistic like
this, she multiplies it 4 or 5 times. But . . . according to the
statistics: From 2004 statistics, maternal mortality ratio per
100,000 live births was 13.34. That’s down from 24.67 in the
year 2000. Perinatal mortality rates per 1000 live births was
7.82 in 2004 (down from 9.56 in 2000). Read the entire report on
Ukraine for yourself. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see those
statistics improved even more?
Finding out about birth issues in almost any culture is not
easy, but these are some of the things I’ve learned about
Ukraine so far. And as my mother always said, when you see a
problem, instead of just criticizing, see how you can be part of
the solution.
Skyla and Victoria carry on the Sokol family tradition of
decorating for Christmas on Thanksgiving Day.
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Tidbits From Ebony
Dear Charis Family,
What an amazing month November has been!! I have had the awesome
opportunity to travel to four different countries in Southeast
Asia this month. When you are in exile, you can look at it as a
pitiful nomadic experience, or a wonderful chance to see new
places!! I have seen some really interesting places this month.
By far, the biggest highlight for me is always the amazing
opportunity to witness and worship with other members of the
Body of Christ in different parts of the world. What an
encouraging manifestation of His glory our diversity is!
At the end of November I returned to the Philippines for a team
retreat. We came together for the first time many, many months.
We focused on debriefing all the tragedies we have faced this
year, on worshipping and studying the Word, and on seeking
Father's presence and will regarding HIS future vision for us.
During Elizabeth's retreat, she had a team building activity on
some mini and full sized zip line courses.
Here is one of the mini-zip lines. So much fun!
But, she did fall in the mud one time! :-(}
God
was so faithful to bring even more healing to our hearts and
help us see what He may have for us next. We are going to take a
few more months to prepare and finish up what we have been
working on, then we are going to try to head to a new city at
the beginning of Spring. We are calling our new city, GLORY
LAND!!! Please begin praying with us for open doors to live and
work in this area. It is a Pushpin city where the population is
VERY in need of community health education projects focused on
women's health and childbirth issues!!! I am so excited about
the possibilities there!
A Pushpin man waiting inside a public transportation vehicle in
the city of Glory Land--the new city where Elizabeth's team
would like to move.
As I
prepared to leave the Philippines, the Lord brought some
unexpected blessings and lessons into my life. I went to visit
Teeny and her beautiful baby Love!! Teeny's body is still
recovering from some infections she contracted at the hospital,
but the baby is completely healthy and beautiful! At the end of
Teeny's pregnancy, I had connected her with another young, first
time mother who had been one of my clients at the volunteer
clinic where I did my brief midwifery internship. As I was
saying goodbye, Teeny shared with me about how she had taken the
opportunity to share the gospel with this other mother and how
the girl had accepted Christ as her Savoir and Lord! We are so
excited to hear about this fruit that has been born. A local
pastor's wife in the area is following up with Mary Rose, our
new sister.
Another unexpected blessing was the opportunity to speak with
the local doctor who owns the clinic where I did my internship.
This was a learning experience as well as a cathartic one, since
there were aspects of the internship that had been quite
difficult for me. As I spoke with him about my time there and
processed some of the things I encountered while working under
the supervision of his Stateside partners, I was blessed to find
in him a friend and co-worker who has a mature, godly
perspective and a passion for true community development.
He is facing some major challenges in coming months, as are the
local midwives I worked with, because the U.S. based partners
are completely pulling out and leaving them financially crippled
as a ministry. I don't mention this to slander their Stateside
partners, but to challenge US, Charis Childbirth Services, as a
domestic and international ministry. I believe in DEVELOPMENT,
not dependency. I believe in EMPOWERMENT, not control. I believe
in SERVICE, not selfish ambition. I believe in FAITH, not fear.
These are values that drew me to Charis and that also drew me to
work in Ebony. I believe they are values that display the love
and light of Christ to the nations.
Please pray for the ministry site where I attended my internship
in the Philippines. In coming months and years they will need an
abundant amount of grace and provision from the Lord in order to
continue to provide the same standard of care for the women in
that remote community. In the long run, I believe this change is
an exciting one that the Lord will use to BLESS all those
involved. But, it is scary and may include a lot of difficulty
for the local midwives and the doctor to carry on. Ask for
perseverant hearts and the favor of God and man so that women
and families may come to know His mercy and Truth!
This beautiful baby is "LG," the youngest member of Elizabeth's team. She
loves critters, green grass and bare feet! A true Southern
Belle!
Something I've been pondering as I've traveled back to the
States for the holidays is how I never intended to join a
"cause" when I began my journey to become a midwife. Yet, the
more I learn and the more births I experience, the less I can
help it. I am shocked, in the U.S., at some of the behaviors and
choices I have seen among new mothers and in the medical
community. But, equally as convicting, are some of our own
behaviors and attitudes as childbirth professionals.
In the past couple weeks, I have been meditating on our
selfishness as human beings. I am often in awe of the selfish
choices women make in childbirth and newborn care. I could call
it something else that sounds sweeter, but I believe that
sometimes we've got to call things by the names the Lord has
given....and some choices are downright SELFISH. I'm trying to
keep my eyes wide open to our own tendency to be selfish and
prideful as childbirth professionals, as midwives, as women
who've chosen natural birth, home birth, whatever. Human beings
are just capable of SUCH selfishness and self-righteousness. It
is uncanny if you really think about it. It tears us apart. It
tears our children apart.
As I strive and plead with the Lord to protect me from judging
the choices of women around me or the attitudes and motives of
someone else's heart, I am reminded where my own righteousness
comes from. It is the same source as THEIR source of
righteousness--and the price tag was the same!!
JESUS CHRIST is our ONLY source of righteousness, RIGHTness,
wholeness, peace, and....humility. It is only IN Christ that I
can be a righteous servant to women....and only in Him will they
find the very BEST choices, behaviors and attitudes with which
to give birth to and mother their children.
Thank you, God, for coming to dwell among us! For becoming one
of us so that we might become like you!
As Christmas comes this year, I'm living to remain in HIM and
free from my SELF!! Thanks for your prayers, encouragement and
example, Charis sisters and brothers!!! You are dear to me!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Elizabeth Carmichael
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