....tiny angels...

On January 17, 2013 at 5:32AM Gifty Osei delivered a beautiful baby boy. He is healthy and has adapted to his new earthly family. Melissa, his older sister has been taking care of her little brother and showing him the family ways. Father is so pleased to have a son who will carry on the family traditions centered in the Lord and his ways. We received a call at 6:10AM from Douglas that his wife had delivered. We rushed to the Abomosu Medical Center and the birthing center to see the new arrival. She was the only woman in the center that morning and we held the littlest angel to the Osei family. What wonder birth is and the miracle of life. The door opened to the hall and our friend Mabel Danquah greeted us warmly. Mabel is the Abomosu Medical Center midwife and has served for 35 years in Abomosu as the midwife for the surrounding areas. She works at the center and does house calls when the woman is without health insurance. She spoke to Gifty and Douglas about a few details and then released Gifty to go home. She gently hugged Gifty and pinched the cheek of the newest angel and was out the door. I followed her out to thank her for her endless labor and caring love for these women of the bush and especially Gifty. Sister Dalton and Douglas were gathering up their blanket and bowls of food they had brought from home. They had walked the 3 1/2 Km. from Asunafo, to the Abomosu birthing center. Yes, they walked, no car was available and Douglas said they only stopped twice while Gifty caught her breathe after a particularly hard contraction. They arrived 21 minutes before she delivered. If we had not come to see the baby and Gifty, they would have walked back home carrying the new addition, and Melissa in tow. The Lord works in mysterious ways His wonders to witness.

Mable was filling out a dog eared notebook as I stuck my head through the curtains and thanked her for her efforts in Gifty’s behalf. She welcomed me into a small room that is also used as an exam room for the women. We sat on a wooden bench as she shared page after page with dates, names and sex of a baby she had delivered. I read the different entries and the small notes if there was something special about the birth. I ran my fingers over the worn pages, hand written with tender care. She opened up a drawer and said “Elder, here are all of the records of the births I have assisted with for 35 years. I will give them to the area Medical Director before I retire soon.” The drawer had several books filled with the same record keeping she had adopted when she first began midwife duties as a 23 year old young woman freshly set on her own by her mother who taught her the duties of a midwife. I marveled at the treasure these books contained and great history written, one birth at a time. She spoke softly about some of those that had died at birth and with reverence for those tiny angels, as she called them. It was a very special occasion for the two of us to share. I asked her how many babies she had delivered including Gifty’s baby just a few hours before? “Today marks number 35,000 babies, Elder, 35,000 tiny angels I have held fresh from heaven.”

 Mable Danquah- picture is above