*The name of the individual portrayed in this story has been changed for privacy reasons
From Mananara, on the east coast of Madagascar, to Mandritsara is about a 25-minute flight. But there is no flight connection between the two cities - and even if there were, only a few Malagasy people could afford it. Thus, for most people, the only option is to take the long way through the rainforest and over the mountains - in a few places by car, but mostly on foot.
For a pregnant woman, this journey of several days is exhausting. Lamina (name changed) was incredibly happy when she finally saw Mandritsara in the distance and by chance even found a bajaj (a small three-wheeled taxi) that could take her and her companions.
Five pregnancies, one child
A few days earlier, they had left Mananara so that Lamina could be in Mandritsara when the time came to deliver her baby. This would be her second child, but her fifth pregnancy. Her daughter was already 10 years old and had stayed at home. The misery had started with her second pregnancy. Lamina had suffered a miscarriage and had to undergo a curettage. Her cervix was damaged in the process. The two following pregnancies both ended around the 20th week of pregnancy because her cervix was now too weak to hold a growing baby inside her womb.
This pregnancy was supposed to be different. Lamina had her cervix stitched closed by a gynaecologist in Mananara during the first trimester of her pregnancy. This is a common procedure for a weak cervix. As her gynaecologist was on holiday, Lamina and her husband decided to travel to Mandritsara in the 7th month of her pregnancy to have the baby delivered there.
Great joy
This decision was providential, as her waters broke as soon as she arrived at the hospital, and labour could have started at any time. The surgeons immediately removed the suture from her cervix. If the suture stayed in, the baby could not be born naturally and the cervix would tear as her labour progressed. Whenever possible and safe, a natural birth is preferred here because it comes with fewer risks.
Now it was a matter of waiting. In Lamina's case, it took a full 11 days before she went into labour. This allowed time to treat her with antibiotics to protect her and her baby, and to give steroid injections to develop the baby’s lungs for a premature delivery. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl weighing two kilograms. The joy was enormous. Another daughter after ten years! The little girl was observed for a few days, treated with antibiotics and supported to gain weight well. After a week, the family was able to leave the hospital and make their way back to the coast.
Good News Hospital Maternity
How good it was that Lamina had set off in time. If the birth had started on the way, or in Mananara, the baby would almost certainly not have survived, and perhaps Lamina too.
The Good News Hospital is the only hospital with a well-equipped maternity unit in a very large radius. Mothers come from far and wide to be treated and give birth here - sometimes even from the coast, as in Lamina's case. Many women choose to give birth at the Good News Hospital, especially when complications are likely.
The number of patients at the maternity unit has risen steadily year after year since it opened. An expansion of the maternity facilities is urgently needed, so that we can continue to treat as many women and babies as possible, and tell them about Jesus' love. Plans for this expansion have been drawn and we are praying to the Lord for the funds needed.
You can read more about this project here
We hope in the coming days, to post news of the construction and equipping of this new maternity extension as it happens, as well as details of how the funding is progressing. We hope to tell you more with the next story from Mandritsara in a couple of weeks.
Thank the Lord for the provision of maternity services at the Good News Hospital, and for the many babies that have been born safely here over the past 27 years.
Pray for the team of midwives who must often care for patients with difficult and dangerous obstetric conditions. Pray that the Lord will give wisdom and skill and that the patients may see the faith and compassion of the midwives in action.
Sometimes babies die and even mothers die. Pray in those cases that the staff may be able to bring comfort from the Lord to the relatives and point them to the Saviour.
Pray for the start of construction of the new maternity extension – and for the funding needed, that God will supply.