Babies!

We have had two babies born in the past week! Babies seem to come in clusters with sometimes weeks between without us helping with deliveries.

The babies this week were both big, slow moving boys and petite mothers. As a rule, the women do not come to us for delivery unless they are having trouble. The most common reason they come to us is when they have labored for a day or two (or five) at home (sometimes alone, sometimes with a family member, sometimes with a traditional birth attendant) and the baby still hasn't come. I'm amazed at home many babies are born healthy in harsh home conditions and the mother delivering alone. Would you believe they cut the cord with a piece of sharp grass!?!? I said grass, not glass.

In the clinic during long days and nights of attending birthing mothers I'm learning:

1. Every delivery is different,
2. Mabaan women are incredibly stoic through pain,
3. Don't make assumptions,
4. Small women with poor nutrition can have very large babies,
5. To Pray and Encourage!