Can it really be April
already?
Time here seems to fly by.
I am still learning a lot, with long hours of assignments scheduled in and
shifts at the clinic each week. More and more, I love it here. More and more,
God’s faithfulness shines through.
Update Lately:
I’m continuing on with language
lessons here. The language our patients speak is called Visayan. The girls and
I have been learning from a wonderful language teacher this past year, and now
that we are almost done, I am continuing on—to expand my vocabulary and learn
more of the language’s grammar. By God’s grace, I will be able to communicate
even better with my patients, really meeting them where they are and serving
them in their native tongue. (Hopefully communication with my boyfriend in his
language will be helpful, too! ;)
Salamat sa Ginoo (Thank
the Lord!)
We are learning as well to
do health teachings. Health teachings are done before each prenatal day and
include topics like Fetal Development, Nutrition, Breastfeeding, and others.
Being well-versed in Visayan is beneficial with this too, as health teachings
are taught in front of 60+ Filipina women waiting to receive a prenatal check-up.
I haven’t done one yet, but know I will be put on the schedule for it soon!
Our current studies entail
information on how to recognize signs and symptoms of labor, how to help the
mothers labor well, and all the ins and outs (haha—literally) of helping with
the birth of the baby. I love learning this stuff!
And being in the birthroom
is wonderful. It still is one of the BEST things to labor with a woman and see
her face when all her efforts result in a beautiful, God-given baby. It amazes
me how a baby can grow and thrive inside his mother’s womb and then be born
completely healthy, most of the time with an immediate reflex to cry and begin
sucking. The word ‘Midwife’
literally means ‘with woman.’ I am beyond grateful that God would give me this
title. I love serving Him this way.
In other news..
Thank you to those who
have chosen to sponsor babies I have helped to deliver. The adopt-a-birth
option really gives you who pray and support the chance to connect to a mother
and baby that I care for. Those of you who have sponsored should receive your
letter and pictures soon. (Please bear with the international postage.)
As an attempt at early
raising of funds for clinic fees due in August, I have a goal for the month of
April and May. Between Sunday school groups, groups of friends, families, etc,
I would like to have 15 more mothers/babies sponsored.
The cost is only $85 to sponsor the birth of a baby that I will personally ‘catch’
here at our clinic. Consider it an opportunity to make a cross-cultural
connection with one of my patients! Praying for those 15! Pray along with me! Email me (brilbart@ut.utm.edu), Facebook me, or comment here for more info. Donations for this can be made straight through the link to the left of this blog (through Paypal.)
This is Ching-Ching, one
of my latest patients. She came into the birthroom at 3 am on March 30th and
had her beautiful baby girl, Jayvriel, just 18 minutes later at 3:18am. Both mom and
baby are great and have come for all their check-ups so far. Ching is such a
chatterbox and is full of joy—makes being a midwife so fun!
I also got a box from home
this past week. Such a sweet thing to receive my favorites from home! Cheese-its,
Nutella, allergy meds, shampoo, and old tshirts make me so happy—the simple
things! In the package were also baby hats, mittens, blankets, and other
things. Can’t wait to hand these out to my patients, who are very much in need
of these essentials. Thanks to Mrs. Sandra Norvell and her Sunday School class
for collecting these and sending them!
Until next time,
A very happy Midwife Brittany
