After a busy prenatal day we went to the file cabinet to
search for Mica’s file.
We quickly found it, organized by her son’s date of
birth in the April 2014 section of the file cabinet.
“Let’s take a trip down memory lane”, we said.
“Come sit with us, Mica.”
We sat on the bed looking over her file together. Her story is one that we are all a
small part of, one none of us will ever forget.
She smiled and laughed as we recalled the first time each
of us met her.
She says her story is a picture of God’s healing and grace
and she wants us to share His faithfulness with you.
* * * *
Mica arrived at the Maternity Center in late 2013 at the
urging of neighbors and friends that knew she needed help.
Fifteen days into a dating relationship, the man Mica had
just begun to get to know sexually assaulted her.
Very quickly after the rape, Mica was devastated to learn
she was pregnant.
In her 9th week of pregnancy, we met a woman
clearly hurting and suffering from depression and trauma.
Not only had she suffered the assault and the trauma
surrounding it, but she also had the weight of many decisions to make
surrounding the baby she carried.
Mica’s church asked her to step down from her position
leading worship and singing. A single pregnant woman is something the church
believed it should hide. The shame Mica took upon herself after that was unfair
and heavy.
We began to work with Mica much the way we begin with
each woman. The Maternity Center
is about community and relationship; both of those things take time. Each week
we learned a little more about Mica, her history, her dreams, and her
personality.
She struggled for months wondering if she could love a
baby that was a product of such a traumatic event in her life.
Over the next several months we listened and tried to
remain supportive of what Mica needed as she made her decisions for herself and
her unborn baby.
The delivery day arrived. Mica arrived in early labor and
worked hard all day to make progress.
Watching someone dig deep and muster up courage to fight
both physical and emotional pain is something we all consider a holy moment.
That day we were in the front row for several holy
moments, just as we have continued to be many times since then.
Mica’s baby was positioned in her pelvis with a “face
presentation”.
Most babies who are presenting face
first are born just as normally as babies who are in a vertex presentation (crown first).
Complications will generally only
occur if the baby's chin rotates towards the woman's back rather then towards
the front. The chin is referred to as the 'mentum', and this position is called
a 'mentum-posterior position', it only happens with about 10% of babies in a
face position.
Thankfully, Mica’s baby had his chin
rotated toward the front (‘mentum-anterior position’) and we talked with Mica
and all believed we were safe to continue on with a delivery at our Maternity
Center.
After several hours of labor Mica’s membranes ruptured.
(The bag of waters broke.) When that happened the baby began to show obvious signs
of distress and we quickly moved toward the ambulance for a traffic-filled and
dramatic ride to the hospital.
Mica delivered her son, Cael, via cesarean section shortly
after arriving at the hospital.
We were able to visit Mica, but definitely felt sad to
not be able to care for her immediately following delivery. We knew she would
benefit from being loved and cared for by a staff that knew her history and
could better meet her emotional needs.
Once the hospital discharged Mica, she came to rest for
many days at the postpartum room at Heartline’s Maternity Center.
There were several people praying for Mica in those
days. Maybe you were one of
them.
We prayed, observed, hoped, and wondered if a bond would
be formed between Mother and child and we were thrilled as we watched it happen
before our eyes.
The recovery was slow for Mica. She suffered from
Mastitis and had the Chikungunya Virus in the weeks she was also recovering
from a C-Section. She fought hard for healing and for her son. We learned a lot
from watching her.
All women that wish to come for Early Childhood
Development class for six months following their delivery are invited to come
each Tuesday. Mica faithfully
attended each Tuesday for six months.
Not too long after Mica graduated from the program we
asked her if she would like to consider joining us on Wednesdays at the
state-run maternity hospital. We
were planning to teach breastfeeding and sing a song there each week and Mica’s
voice and singing talent are unparalleled.
Mica agreed to join us on Wednesdays and shortly
thereafter she joined our team as a regular staff member, putting to use the
skills she had learned in a nursing school several years prior.
One day earlier this year a couple of us had the same
thought. We wondered if perhaps Mica would want to take her nursing assistant
degree and use that base of knowledge to apply for training as a Certified
Birth Attendant.
The shortest possible version of that story is this: Mica passed the entrance test with flying
colors, was accepted into the Midwives for Haiti Birth Attendant class of
2015-2016, and a generous sponsor has agreed to cover the costs of her schooling. She
will begin her training this summer.
We are all incredibly excited to have Mica in the birth
room with us. We know we will get to see her use her difficult experiences to love
and serve other hurting women.
* * * *
Late last week in the month of April, on the one-year
anniversary of the day Cael was born, we sat on the bed together remembering
all that God has done, all that Mica has accomplished, all the grace and mercy
we have been witnesses to this last year and a half.
It is
good to remember.
~From Heartline Ministries May Newsletter~
