It has been a wonderful three years living my dream. It feels really good. I am overjoyed. I have fallen in love many times over with the clients that I have served. I have built new relationships and seen old ones thrive and grow. I befriended a midwife that made me feel like we had been friends for years! Now, I am taking some time to feel out where God would have me move forward. I have a lot of paths laid out ahead of me but I want it to be the one He directs. Proverbs 3:5-6.
I will be spending the next month in Florida serving as a midwife and I can not be more thrilled. It will be so exciting when I return to report on my adventure!
The changes we have seen in our country since March of 2020 has effected all of us, even me, a then stay-at-home homeschooling mom training to be a midwife.
I never expected to practice in my home town. I was fully looking ahead to serving in a missions capacity during times my husband would be home until the boys were grown and then perhaps permanently.
For us, my husband lost his job and thus I needed to help with the income. In the interim of my oldest starting college, my youngest needing to be seen for sports and me gaining licensure, God was at work. He paved a way for myself and my midwife colleague to work together, my younger son to have an opportunity at a school right in line with my previous homeschooling curriculum and ethics, my older son to ease into college with time to work, and my husband to have some much needed time off.
These are strange times for all of us no matter which side we fall on regarding the different issues but one thing remains constant. Women are having babies and they need options and support for their choices. THAT is why I serve.
I worked many hours setting up a business complete with website, forms, office, equipment and more. God brought the clients. There are more women seeking homebirth in my area due to the limitations in the hospital settings. I still doula in the hospitals here and I personally think they are doing a really good job in labor in delivery trying to serve with respect and understanding. ❤
These shoes have seen a lot. Just under a year ago I decided they needed to go. Then, after they sat in the throw away pile a few days, I got to thinking how long I have had them. You see, these are the most expensive shoes I have purchased. Over 8 years ago I decided to run a 5K. I needed good shoes to train and do this.
I made the investment.
Never have I ever spent this much on shoes. After 3-4 years of using them to run in, it was time to retire them.
They became my birth shoes.
They have been to Haiti and the Philippines. They have been in 100’s of homes in the area. They have been to every hospital. They have seen (and felt) all the fluids of birth. They have carried me many miles, through many experiences and walked a very weary birth worker back home on many occasions.
Now it is time to retire them. I rescued them from the trash pile to take me to the finish line. They did their job. I have another pair of running shoes that are 4 years old. I purchased them while working at a birth center in Utah in 2016. They can now be my birth shoes for my next journey.
One finish line has been crossed and I will now walk into a new era.
So I have been back for about 10 days. This post has been on the forefront of my mind the entire time. I wanted to give it the attention it deserves. My trip to the Philippines fulfilled more than just my midwifery requirements. It fulfilled a much needed rest from daily stresses, it met my needs both spiritually and emotionally.
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
EPHESIANS 3
I had a small amount of clinicals to finish up my requirements and by going to the Philippines I would be able to accomplish most of these a bit faster. I was informed ahead of time that I MIGHT get only half of the birth requirements that I needed. I was fine with this as it would still help me in my plan. On arrival, I found out that I would also be required to OBSERVE a birth with each of the SEVEN midwives BEFORE being able to catch babies. My God is bigger.
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:
psalm 92:1
I was able to get acclimated watching another intern during the first week who would be leaving. There was a second intern there who was long term. Her and I would be alternating births. At this point in time I calculated we would need 14 births for me to complete my requirements so if I got a portion of that I would be happy. The only issue with this is they had reported much less volume than this and expected even less for the month of January. The current climate was sit and wait and see who comes in to birth. With my extended downtime, I took their prenatal book and made a list of all the clients due in January. After taking out all the first time and fifth time moms the center was no longer allowed to care for, there was a total of 23 due plus 33 clients listed without due dates. This was marvelously hopeful although some will have already delivered, get risked out, not deliver at the center or, well, it is unknown what may happen to them. My God is bigger.
Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
psalm 75:1
During this time the Holy Spirit was strong with me. I had no worries. No concerns. I felt His presence and enjoyed the fellowship. I prayed daily and this month also became a time of fasting. Not so much by deliberate intention, it just was. It was a time to rid my life of all the hustle and bustle so I did so with food as well. I lived on eggs, pineapple and three occasions of refried beans and three occasions of tuna. Those were at least my staple. And the most AMAZING coconut water; Merci Bocu. I enjoyed some Aloe water with wheat grass too. Yum! I thought I would spend a bulk of time studying but instead I enjoyed three midwife novels and the book of Romans for devotion. I am currently sitting here watching the snow flurries as I remember my time in the Philippines with the high humidity and all the fans blowing and lull of sleep coming on and the standard daytime naps for everyone. Such a wonderful pace of life.
Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
psalm 106:1
This beautiful intern I shared living space with made such an impact on my spiritual life as well. A breath of fresh air. Youth at work. We were able to share in a lot of conversation over the month and her perceptions always based on bibilical principle and shared in gentleness and love were so inspirational. Pray for her. Pray for her calling to reach an unreached group of people. https://jessiinthephilippines.wordpress.com/ This is her heart; that she saw how close I was to being done with my requirements and weighing in the fact of such a low volume of births, she stepped back and allowed me to have all the births that came in. If there are any apprentices reading this, you know just what a sacrifice this was. I am forever grateful. My God is big!
To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
Psalm 30:12
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
2 Corinthians 9:15
So time passed. I observed four births and then was allowed to catch as primary midwife. I caught one, then two and soon four needing only 3 more. Births seem to come in spurts over a two day time then 4-5 days of nothing. Tuesdays through Thursdays were prenatal days and really only Tuesdays were busy. The babies seemed to know to come Friday thru Monday. With less than four days to go I was down to only one birth to go. I was already ecstatic. One of the midwives sat down with me and went through the skills sets that I still needed and we got those completed. The midwives were so attentive to what my final needs were that they would call me when I was not at the center if someone came in for well woman care qualifying for one of the clinicals I needed. I was more than satisfied with all of this and even considered taking the last days to travel and see some of the beauty of the Philippines. But prompted by the Holy Spirit, I waiting. My God is bigger.
O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
psalm 108:1
In the wee hours the day before departure I was blessed with catching not one, but two babies that birthed that day. Two laboring women came in during the night and delivered enough apart that I was able to attend both. He provides exceedingly abundantly more than we ask. My Father loves to provide. This sweet fellowship that I was able to experience is so precious. I am very grateful. I have so much to be grateful for. This became my theme verse for the experience in the Philippines:
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.
Nothing exciting to report other than the birth of Zian. I really thought what a beautiful name which I was honored to be a part of his birth. His mother, Carrylee, is so soft spoken and praised Jesus during her labor. No language barrier for that! Praise!
Beautiful midwife Arriane, Carrylee holding Zian, myself, big sister and Dad of Zian
Lots of media coverage over the eruption of Taal Volcano in the Philippines south of Manila. The Earth’s groaning as it spews forth sand, ash, rock and lava. Much like a woman in travail bringing forth her child, eventually there will be a calm. The groanings could be for hours or days but the calm will come. Sand landed here but today the air is breezy and clean. The volcano is 60 miles south of where I am located and although it has been spewing, the expected full eruption has not occurred. There are active volcanoes all over the World at the moment.
Taal Volcano
Once the child arrives here at Shiphrah, it is placed skin to skin on the birthing mother. As long as the baby has cried and looks to continue doing well it is untouched. No interruption for temperature, no touching with the stethoscope for getting heart tones and respirations. The baby is just left to be calm and rest while all of its senses are experiencing the newness and it begins to nurse. A new birth is not released on discharge for 6-12 hours depending on health status of mom and baby and time of day. Only then is the newborn exam performed. Very basic measurements and overall check head to toe and then the baby is bathed. The baby is then clothed and weighed with clothing and then given the vitamin K injection and erythromycin eye ointment. After confirming nursing, no bleeding, and both have peed and pooped the mother and baby are told to return in three days for their postpartum check.
You may have already read a stark difference in what they do versus what we do, especially in the hospital. The partner, companion or family will be the one to feed and stay with and care for the mother and her needs. One even mopped the floor after a birth on the floor with lots of amniotic fluid. Everything they do here is truly child and family centered.
The midwife’s family stays at the birth center when she is on-call
I have attended my 4th observed birth here. A woman comes in and her internal exam will show if she needs to stay or go home. When the decision is made she labors in a room with two twin beds. Her companions are with her which may just be her partner or it may be her whole family. She will bring diapers, pads, cloths for wiping the baby, blankets, alcohol, baby oil, trash bags, clothes for baby and toilet paper. Her companion will go to fetch her food if the time gets long.
She will sit on the bed, change positions, walk, squat, get on hands and knees and we check heart tones hourly. At some point we are notified things have progressed. The woman is given the choice of whatever position she would like to be in including a birth stool. So far, three of the four births have been on their back. One was on the floor kneeling. Two of the three on their backs ended up rolling to the side to allow the tailbone more movement which brought the baby.
The women have delivered in silence not pushing very long. They are encouraged to breathe their babies down and out and no forceful pushing. They do not have to push long and babies come with the normal pause after the head and then the body and begin crying right away.
They are inspected for tears and so far there have been none. They are left with their baby on their belly and we check their fundus and bleeding every 15 minutes for the first hour. If the baby is crying and looks well that is all that is noted. The baby is hatted, covered and cord cut after it stops pulsing and that is all the baby is disturbed.
Once the placenta is delivered, an injection of oxytocin (Pitocin by another name here) is given in the arm. Her BP is taken and if bleeding is under control they are left alone other than the fundal checks. Of the four there have been two that bled enough for IV. I am wondering if it was the position as they never moved from their back and the blood clotted holding the cervix open. Sometimes movement (sitting up to breastfeed) and getting up will expel these and promote less bleeding.
These precious boys. They were begging for money when I went to the market but I knew they would just take it back to the one that sent them out for it. A fellow intern warned me of the pattern. It breaks my heart these innocent souls live this way only to become, on most occasions, the sinful adults we turn into. I can only pray over them that the Lord will show mercy and bring them to glory through His glorification. Proverbs 3:5-6.
As a new client of Shiphrah each woman is given dates of her seminar class. Equivalent to childbirth education classes they span 9 weeks of prenatal, 2 nutrition classes, 2 childbirth classes, childcare class, breastfeeding class and family planning. They culminate into a graduation with a grand celebration full of gifts and food much like our baby shower. I regret I will not be here for a graduation as they sound lovely. Being the beginning of the year, classes just started.
Attending all the classes provides them with the party and certification. However, it isn’t always feasible for them to come every week so they are required to at least attend 3.
Classes are held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and sometimes twice a day so they have options on when to come. Once class is over things get busy! We see each one of them for prenatal. Quickly passing through each station they get their blood pressure checked, weight, belly measured, listen to baby’s heart tones, baby’s position is checked then they consult with the midwife to discuss nutrition, labs, and anything that needs addressing. The women are given vitamins and have their iron checked regularly as that is a risk here. However, gestational diabetes and group B strep aren’t even considered; or at least they are very very low in the radar.
As I type this update, this afternoon is much slower than yesterday. I was also attending my 3rd assisted birth. I am sitting in the rocking chair with fans blowing and the sound of children playing everywhere.
My own son just turned 13 today. I am more emotional about missing his special day than I thought I would be. I do wish they were here playing with all the other kids and experiencing non-American life. I have moved into a new era of life as I have no more littles and only teens. 💕
I am here. An adventure for sure. However, the Holy Spirit has been with me along the way and I love the time we are spending together. I am reading through the book of John right now and it is precious time. The planes all connected without a hitch, I got to the intern apartment and got settled. I haven’t had too much problem adjusting to time if you call waking up at 3am every day adjusting. I am exhausted by 8pm. The first 5 days I had a TON of swelling! It finally went down. I am told others have had that as well from such long flights and high altitudes. The pace is so slow and relaxed. I really am enjoying that part. My personality is always to go go go, be doing, productive, etc. It is an adjustment but I am trying to embrace the pace. Right now the wind is blowing through the screens and I feel the cool breeze. The home is all shaded under trees and even though it is 90 degrees it is very pleasant in here. There is a very steep hill to walk down and back up to get common things and I enjoy the exercise and sunshine. I would do it all day but if there is a birth I don’t want to be stinky~
The midwives on call are napping. It has been very slow for births. There was one the day I arrived I was able to observe and not one since. The pressure drops in the weather tonight so maybe then! The center had an administrative order to not allow first time moms or moms with their fifth pregnancy deliver here. It was finally lifted and hopefully they will be calling those moms back to invite them to return if they wish. The birth I observed was pretty normal in all facets except one. The baby’s decelerations (60 bpm) were handled native midwife style, not hospital style like I am accustomed. They were very low and very slow to recover. This was during pushing but baby was not moving down with pushes. In the hospital I have gotten on board with the doctor and nurses in coaching the birth mom that the baby has to come out now and to push with all she has in her. This midwife told her not to push. On the next contraction she was to breathe and relax; breathe deep for her baby. After she did so, the following contraction she pushed and the baby moved and crowned. The next two contractions the head was born and the baby wailed letting us know she was okay! She took another 2 minutes to be born and all was well.
There is always something to learn. I look forward to more.
They begin Christmas celebration here September 1! Today was the first real day back to routine and it was slow. Tomorrow prenatal classes begin and things will be happening. There are two interns here and one leaves tomorrow. The other has had her sister visiting and her sister is leaving now. I am glad I came during this week as it gave me time to get acclimated before getting into the full swing of things.
Midwifery here, as I understand it, requires a bachelor’s degree and then they have autonomy of care. They have midwifery schools and trained midwives are common in the country. This is what is fascinating; their lives are completely family centered. The midwives bring their kids to work with them. On Sunday, the midwives on call had their husbands here all day. They cook and eat and rest; a family affair. Kids are involved in the every day life. The center has a playground and all the neighborhood kids come and play and climb trees. The sound of children are constant through the day as the other side of the apartment for interns is the children’s home.
Playground
Internet. This is the most Internet I have had since being here. It has been so slow and I am having banking difficulties and have had to travel to find good enough internet to communicate. That has been my only hassle. Even after notifying the bank AND the bank calling me to verify my travels, my cards are not working. I am a day ahead so I am having to wait for the weekend to pass in the States to try and get things situated. My husband will be doing that in a few hours for me. If I call, I would have to do so in the wee hours here and I don’t want to wake anyone. Hopefully that all will get resolved.
This hasn’t been an exciting post but just to say I am here and I am learning. Tagalog is the official language and I am not getting that at all. I wish our brains could open up and soak in a language easily. English is their second language so most know it and just about as many can speak it. Thankfully. http://www.helpintl.org/shiphrah-birthing-home.html
Thanks to the generous donations I am once again able to go abroad. This trip will have a missions feel and centered on continuing my education. The clinicals there will count toward my requirements for midwifery. I have received great feedback from those that have attended and am excited to go and see what I can learn.
The Philippines. This is where Shiphrah Birthing Home is located and part of HELP International Ministries in Taytay, Rizal. I will be there the month of January beginning the year 2020 on foreign soil. I believe there is meaning in that.
I have had to do a lot of cultural preparedness for this location and unlike my previous trips do not need to bring suitcases full of equipment and supplies. I offered and the response was they were there form me. I already feel a new welcome I have not felt before. They have requested that if possible to bring gently used onsies and receiving blankets. These are given to the women who complete their childbirth education and are ready to have their babies! So, if you have some, please let me know and we can coordinate a pickup.
There are seven native midwives I look forward to learning skills from. Poverty is the norm in the area as are diseases we no longer encounter here. There is so much to be thankful for being born in America. This Thanksgiving look deep into other areas of the world and what their lives are like there TODAY. This should help put emphasis on being grateful for our every day safety and commodities here in America.
Doula By Donation 