Friday, March 28, 2014

Babies, babies, babies

It is now officially Spring, though Liberia does not really have seasons like I have grown up thinking of seasons.  Everywhere around us, babies are being born.  The ducks that belong to our neighbors have been having babies – the latest group is 13 ducklings! – the chicks are plenty, and so many of the women we encounter seem to be pregnant.  Families are large here, and women tend to have babies until they can no longer become pregnant.

Our neighbor’s sister came to live with them about three months ago, and she gave birth on Decoration Day, March 12.  We knew that she was pregnant and that she was due to give birth soon, but we never realized it would happen like it did.  That day, Sarah and I were sitting on our porch and enjoying the national holiday when our neighbor went running by to get the midwife.  Perry’s mom is the midwife in our community, and soon she came running over.

A few hours later, we saw Gertrude, a small girl who lives in the same house.  We asked her if Beatrice had her baby, and Gertrude’s response was perfect – “Yes!  She’s fine!”  In this context, “fine” does not mean well or healthy, but instead, it means beautiful.  In the course of an hour, Beatrice had her first child, a daughter she has named Blessing.  I got to meet her a few days later, and she is beautiful.  It’s amazing to me how nonchalant the experience was; nothing stopped for this birth, and she gave birth right at the house with only a midwife and her sister attending to her.

Today, two weeks later, Beatrice is busy as ever, washing diapers and clothes every day, hauling water, and taking care of her newborn.  Looking at her, though, you’d never know she just had a baby.  When something is this routine in a society, there is no bounce back time, I guess. 


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