New Beginning

Yesterday morning we had our first birth in the clinic with Beth, Lisa, Stephanie and I. This was a birth of significance. Natasha has been in the prenatal program here at Heartline for most of her pregnancy. She has a special place in our hearts because of her circumstances in life. She has 5 children, 3 living with relatives, her 2 youngest living with her. She contracted HIV from the father of this baby. After becoming pregnant and finding out she had HIV she became very angry and wanted to abort the baby. She continued with the pregnancy with the decision to give her baby up for adoption. Towards the end of her pregnancy she began to develop acceptance of her situation in life. I only met her a couple weeks ago when arriving in Haiti. I had a soft spot in my heart for Natasha the day I met her. She is meek, has a smile full of crooked teeth, joy in her heart, and pain in her eyes. I was excited that she had the option of delivering in the clinic now that there are midwives here.

Monday night Stephanie and I were busy putting prenatal vitamins in pouches while watching tv shows on the computer when the guard told us that Natasha was here in labor. Stephanie checked Natasha while I informed Beth that she was here in labor. Beth and Lisa made there way over to the women's center in good time. Natasha was still in early labor so it gave us time to talk about the circumstances. Because there is the possibility of bodily fluids flying around during birth we need to be extra precautious handling birth with HIV. Also because Natasha had decided not to keep the baby, we needed to be sensitive to her emotional needs. Natasha stayed at the clinic overnight in early labor. Contractions got more intense in the morning. After a couple short pushes the baby was born around 9:30am. He gave a couple cries initially then calmly rested in my arms. Natasha had some problems with bleeding initially but did fine in the long run. She decided before the birth that she didn't want to see the baby. She wanted to know though if it was a boy or girl. A couple hours after birth she decided she wanted to see him. She held him for a while and gave him the name David. At the end of the day we took Natasha home and David to the baby home with Heartline Ministries.

I am still in awe of the significance of the birth. We are here for women like Natasha. I was so proud of Natasha for taking such good care of herself during the pregnancy and growing such a healthy baby. He weighed 8 lbs at birth. Please pray for Natasha and she adjusts to the reality of giving up a baby.