My sister delivered her first baby last month. She went into labor naturally two days after her due date. All the ultrasounds showed a healthy baby boy and the entire family was beyond thrilled that a new baby boy would soon be entering our family.
I live 3 hours away from my sister, so as I heard the news that she was heading to the hospital I anxiously sat by my phone waiting for the updates. Her back labor was pretty painful and she wasn’t dilating very quickly, so about six hours into labor she received an epidural for pain and some Pitocin to speed up the labor process. At that point she was happy and comfortable.
Pictured: Labor and delivery suite in the U.S.
The nurses carefully monitored her SLOW progress and kept an eye on the baby’s heart rate. Around 1:00 a.m. the nurses started to show concern over the baby’s elevated heart rate. By 1:30 they called the doctor in and my sister was rushed into the operating room for a C-section. A healthy, but stressed, baby Finn was born at 1:45 a.m. weighing 7lbs. 4oz. Praise God for a safe delivery.
Pictured: Finn Sweet-Williams in the hospital
When I received the text message that baby Finn was born and doing fine, but that my sister had undergone a C-section because of the baby’s elevated heart rate and what they found to be a pinched umbilical cord, I just broke down and wept.
Momma and baby were doing fine, so why did I cry?
First, I was so filled with emotions of thankfulness that my sister and new baby nephew were doing well. Thank you, Lord, for this gift. But just as quickly, my thoughts turned to Haiti. What might have happened to my sister and baby Finn if we lived in Haiti?
The more involved I become with World Wide Village and serving the people of Haiti, the more these thoughts invade my mind. What if my sister was born a Haitian? Would she have survived her first childbirth? Almost certainly baby Finn would not have survived as my sister’s body was not progressing and he was under severe stress from the pinched umbilical cord, unable to get what he needed to stay healthy under the stress of delivery.
My mind then turned to Mrs. Joassaint – a sweet mother in Haiti – who is due to have a baby this summer. I thought of so many other Haitian women in the villages that we meet in our clinics. So many of these women in Haiti have become friends, so when I hear the statistics — 25x more pregnant women die in Haiti than in the U.S. — I have concerns and fears when a Haitian friend is expecting.
These relationships and my desire to see those in Haiti helped in the name of Jesus have stirred in me a desire to do more to help bring medical care to Haiti. The goal of World Wide Village – now within reach as we move closer and closer to completing the medical clinic – is to provide ongoing prenatal care to expecting mothers in Haiti. World Wide Village hopes to provide trained and experienced midwives in this rural community to monitor labor and help ensure healthy deliveries. My prayer is that together, we can bring medical care to this area of Haiti.
-By Kim Anderson
