"Image courtesy of www.PicturesNow.com"
Birthing
It was sometime in the morning of a very warm
day when, with the help of a midwife who had been there with her
for many hours, a woman gave birth. She was in her own bed at
home, as was the custom many years ago, eyes closed because of
exhaustion, not anaesthetic, listening for the cry of the baby
that she had carried for nine months. The doctor had been called
at the last minute because the midwife realised that there were
complications. Surely the doctor would make her baby breathe;
she listened......................
"You needn't bother dressing this
one," said the doctor. "It won't last a half-hour."
He evidently thought the mother was asleep; surely he wouldn't
be so cruel to say such a thing if he knew that she could hear
him. 'It' - he didn't even say 'he' or 'she'.
The mother remained still, her thoughts
went back to when she lost her first-born son because the cord
was wrapped around his neck. She wanted to scream or cry but she
did neither - she prayed. Finally, she mercifully fell asleep.
It was lunch time when the midwife spoke
to the mother and said, "Well, we're just going to dress
this little lady."
The mother raised herself to see a tiny
girl that was evidently going to live after all. She closed her
eyes for just a minute to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.
No, the baby uttered a little cry and the woman said a silent
thank you to God.
Evidently, the cord 'was' wrapped around
her little neck and she was blue. It really 'was' a miracle that
this tiny baby survived, because, many years later the RH factor
was discovered and this baby was RH negative and the mother not.
Today, in that situation, it entails a great deal, with the help
of the facilities of a hospital, to help an RH baby.
The baby was dressed and wrapped in a little
blanket and put in the cradle of the weak mother's arm. There
was no incubator, as shown in the picture above; there was no
way to transfer her blood to be compatible with the mother's;
but still - she lived.
On July 19, 1932 the midwife fixed a dresser
drawer to be a bed for the baby girl that had been named 'Joan'.
It was six weeks before she weighed five pounds, but, today she
is telling you her story and the story of a very thankful mom,
Rose. ~Joan Adams Burchell~ (copyright)
Rose holding Joan - taken 1933
My thanks to my good friends, Adrian and Elsa for making this
beautiful background for the old pictutre. The picture 'does'
tell a story, doesn't it?
