On a beautiful morning last week, we were ready to get alot of work done in the office.  We were hoping for no emergencies so we could get some emails answered and paper work done.  A few minutes later, they came and told us there was a pregnant lady at the gate that was bleeding and not doing well.  Normally we do not do births here.  There are lots of reasons for this, but in emergency cases we try to help out as we can.  Lori brought the lady in and we quickly saw that she would not make it to another hospital a few hours away on the bumpy road before she would deliver.  We began to prepare for the birth.  She was not progressing to well and asked us if she could get up and walk some.  We were happy that she was willing to walk and encouraged her to do so.  As soon as she began to walk, her labor pain became worse and more frequent.  She walked back and forth behind the clinic in a short distance area.  With each pain she would yell and squat down.  She said she was not yet in the pushing stage.  This was her 6th child and she did not feel like things were going normal.  She was scared and her husband was very worried.  This continued for awhile.  She asked if she could deliver behind the clinic on the ground so we said we could try that if she felt more comfortable.  We gathered the material and began to prepare for the birth.  She wanted to stay on her knees and hands to deliver.  So here is Lori, who is still recovering from surgery, laying on the ground behind the lady to deliver the baby.  We had flashlights as there was not good lighting.  When she began pushing there was a lot of blood.  The baby was not moving along to come out.  We flipped her over, I sat on a chair behind her and Lori was in front.  The husband was praying behind me.  She pushed and the baby begins to come out, but was very blue.  The cord was wrapped around its neck 2 times and it’s shoulder once.  There was no slack on the cord at all.  With the next push, she birthed the rest of the blue baby and the placenta at the same time.  Lori goes into rambo nurse mode.  She picks up the non-breathing baby and runs with placenta attacked to the emergency room.  She gets Yanick to get meds for the mother who is bleeding very bad.  We are yelling back and forth between the back of the clinic and the emergency room.

“Is the baby breathing?”
“How much blood is she losing.”
“Yanick is coming with the meds.”
“Slow heart beat, but no breaths”
“Bleeding is slowing down.”
“Still nothing from the baby”
“Is the mom stable enough for you to come help me?”
“We need the suction machine.”
I run across the yard and yell for Frank to help me.  We drag the machine across the yard and get it plugged in.  It pulls so much power that we have to run and unplug fridges and turn off lights for it to work.  Lori is doing CPR and trying to get this little gal to breath.  Mom still behind the clinic with Yanick.  Dad standing at the end of the bed with his eyes closed and his hands in the air.  We suction out a large amount of blood from deep down and scratch her feet and tap her back and continue with breaths to get her breathing.  Finally, there was a small gasp on her own.  The dad looks, but still does not believe she will make it.  A few minutes later, she opens her eyes.  His hands go up in the air again thanking God for saving his wife and his new daughter.  Now he has 3 boys and 3 girls!  There was a bench full of patients waiting for dressing changes that were watching all of this happen.  They were praying along with us.  One person said, “Today, I saw with my own eyes that there is a God.”  We cleaned them both up and got them ready to go home.  Someone from the health department was arriving for a visit with Lori.  He offered to drive the family back to their house.  We are thankful that they both lived and are doing well, but also thankful for all that God shows us personally through these beautiful people.  He gives special encouragement and confirmation that we are in His will.  We pray that this little girl grows up to know this wonderful God that we serve.

“Prayer in action is love, and love in action is service. Try to give unconditionally whatever a person needs in the moment. The point is to do something, however small, and show you care through your actions by giving your time … We are all God’s children so it is important to share His gifts. Do not worry about why problems exist in the world – just respond to people’s needs … We feel what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean, but that ocean would be less without that drop.”
— Mother Teresa: A Simple Path