Today we went out to Puerto Galera to do a check-up on a newborn. The mother had delivered at the clinic one day ago and we students weren’t very involved with this delivery. The mother had already had one child, but had gone to the hospital for this first delivery and they had given her medication so she didn’t feel much of the delivery. This was her second delivery and so we thought she had an idea about what happens during labor and she had also did her prenatal exams with our clinic so we thought she would know what we could and could not do and how the clinic is a natural birth center for mothers. When she went into active labor, she started asking us for medicines for pain and we told her that we didn’t have any. The clinic is a natural birth clinic and so we had no medicines for her pain. She kept asking for the medicines, “to just put her asleep” and we still had to keep reminding her there were none. She got into the mood like I have seen on T.V. sitcoms where mothers in hard labor turn mad and even though this was understandable, it was my first experience of this in real life. Her husband cleared out and so did Ruth and I. We were not able to pray openly with the expecting parents because they are Muslim, but my roommate Ruth and I gathered in the adjoining room and prayed together for the delivery of this baby and also the salvation of each and every one of them. A short time later, the baby was delivered, a little girl! We let the mother rest and then later on, the new parents took their new addition home.

Today we went for the newborn exam. This is done at different times in the newborn’s life with the first one being at one day old. We drove to Puerta Galera about 15 minutes from the clinic to visit the family. We walked down a narrow one-way street to an area where mostly Muslims live. There were pregnant and newly delivered women from our clinic along the way that waved and greeted us. As we were approaching the house of the family, I heard chanting of many people. I asked what it was and it was the daily prayers the Muslim people make. I started praying under my breath for God to come into this area of the world and I prayed for the future missionaries or Christians that may bring the good Word to these people. We made it to the house and it was a community house where her extended family lived also. They welcomed us in and we went to the room of the family. We did and exam on the mother which checked out fine and then we did an exam on the baby. The baby was breathing a little fast but had no nasal flaring, intercostals retractions, or use of accessory muscles. The newborn did have a slight raise in temperature. When I listened to lung sounds, I thought I heard something in the left lung, but I was unsure because the baby was crying. Because of the slight fever and increased respiratory rate, we advised a follow-up with a local pediatrician. The parents served us mirinda (“snack”) and we sat for a bit in their house. It was time for us to go and we asked them to texted us after they finished with the doctor’s visit. We slipped back on our shoes and said hello to some children walking their beetle on a string outside the door. Another mother stopped by the house where we were at to just show us her baby and the baby looked good and healthy. During the visit, I heard two children coughing that lived in the same place and the father of the newborn also has conjunctivitis (“pink eye”). So, I am praying for this baby and also praying for the souls of these people. What I walked away asking myself is this: “What if no one goes to share the News with those people…how will they know?”