Fifteen Births

Today was a pretty amazing day. First at lunch, I ran into the father of a baby I watched being born on Monday night. I'd gotten to know his wife during our weekly Pregnant Mother's Group and she'd really wanted to come to the Casa Materna, but it was her first child and the labor was prolonged so the gynocologist decided it was too risky for her to leave the main hospital. She was disappointed though, and definitely frightened, so I'd stayed with her to help her breath through the contractions and rubbed her back to ease the pain. When her husband arrived and I tried to excuse myself to let them be together, they both said "Don't go!" So that was how I saw my first birth (ever) (yes, I know it's crazy considering I'm doing this project that I had never witnessed a birth before). All I can say is, Women are frickin amazing. I felt kinda bad that I got to enter the OR and the father wasn't even allowed to. After it was all over, and the OR staff had left her lying on the operating table to recover (she'd had a small episio, but no caesarean) I congratulated her and she told me she didn't know what she'd have done without me. I thought of the hundreds of moms who give birth alone in Bolivian hospitals, at times even before the nurse or doctor arrives. It was a powerful bit of participant observation, to say the least.
Anyway, so it was pretty cool to run into the proud father today, who greeted me and proceeded to buy my friend and I a HUGE bottle of Sprite in thanks. It was really sweet feeling.
Then, in the afternoon, one of the nurses came excitedly running to tell me that she had recruited a patient to come to the Casa Materna, that her husband was enthusiastic at the prospect of being able to see his new infant arrive (although they were a local Punata family, not rural indigenous Quechuas). Finally, I thought, I get to witness how the whole Parto Intercultural really works. Somehow up til now (despite the fact that we've had 15 births since August, woo!!) I've always been absent in the moment it happens. While I felt a little silly hanging out without a specific role, I occupied myself with boiling water and offering the mom anise tea during the dilation.
Of course it would happen that while they'd predicted a 10pm delivery, when I returned at 9 oclock after running to my house for a bite to eat, the baby was already crying on the weighing scale. Aw, man.
But then, another woman arrived from a little farther out of town and wearing the traditional "pollera" skirt. I talked with her sister in law and learned it was the first time either of them had given birth in a hospital, all of their previous children had been born in their home, attended by their husbands. However, the husband was out of town so they'd decided to come to the hospital, and found out once they got there about the Casa Materna (proof that we still have a lot of work to do spreading the word about it). Why did she want to come to the Casa Materna, I asked her and she replied that she wanted to have her baby "sentadita" (sitting down).
Of course once again, I left the room for just a minute after bringing in a cup of mate, and suddenly heard the cry of the second baby. I guess I'm just not meant to see it happen... :) But regardless it was quite a thrill to be so close to the process and get to comfort the moms and hold the newborn infants.
After it was all over and I'd said goodnight to the mom's and the doctor, I called a taxi to return to my house. "How's the Casa Materna?" asked the taxi driver as I climbed in. "What? Oh my gosh, how are you?" He was the father of another child born in the Casa Materna, back in September. Wow, what a day. :) Orientation with Dr. Vallejos in the Casa Materna Demonstration of one possible birthing position . Beautiful Sunrise on our way to an early morning community meeting. Promoting the Casa Materna in Lacanasuyu. The promotoras explain the Casa Materna in a community meeting in Laguna Sulty.