Welcome, Little One

One morning a few of us visited the local maternity hospital built and funded by World Vision in the Congo. It had only been open a few weeks. It was a small, concrete building. My mind immediately jumped to our local hospital, Woodwinds. This had no valet parking…for that matter, there was no parking lot (no one had cars). No commemorative statue or fountain outside. This was a very small, cement block building, but very functional and much needed!

Our tour began immediately, as we stepped into a small room, no bigger than the ‘1/2 bathroom’ in my home. A few waiting room chairs and that was it. This was the laboring room. Absent were the TV, calming music, coffee maker for the husband and ice chips for the mother-to-be.

Next we were brought into the delivery room. Not much bigger. Only big enough to hold two, worn red leather birthing beds with stirrups. The only familiar equipment from my delivery days was the utilitarian big metal bucket under the bed. Still a cement room.

At last, we were ushered into the maternity ward. A much larger room with about 7 hospital beds. It was a grey day, so I cannot say it was bright. I don’t remember lights. The beds were empty, except for one. In it lay a mother with her week-old baby daughter.

What a beautiful sight. She lay there, on here side, having had a cesarean section a week ago. With the new facility, they were able to perform the cesarean locally and provide her with the proper medical attention she needed. As she allowed her foreign visitors to hold her newborn, she beamed with pride.

I could picture her coming to the hospital in labor. No ‘hospital bag’ holding her favorite pillow, her ipod, essential oils, cell phone and slippers. She probably walked there…alone. Through the entire process, she received good, clean medical care in facilities that were new and state of the art for the area. While they sadly could not save her son (she had twins), she and her daughter were healthy and she was healing and receiving the medical attention and care she needed.

This hospital was a stark contrast to what we are accustomed to here in the privileged U.S. But, while the setting is so different to what we experience here, the outcome was thankfully the same…a beaming mother with her tiny gift from God. Thank you Covenant Kids Congo powered by World Vision. Thank you God.