Diane Young

Midwifery

As told by Polly Meganack to Connie Hedrick

Q. How did you learn to be a midwife?

A. I once helped Grandma Jessie and another lady. After that I was able to help each one of the ladies giving birth.

Q. How did you feel the first time you seen a baby being born?

B. Nancy was the first one I helped with. I was so scared when she was coming out; I closed my eyes so tight my ears buzzed all day. After my first time I felt sorry for the mothers, I wanted to help them. The mothers that had babies before had an easier time than the one’s that hadn’t had a baby before.

Q. How many years were you a midwife?

A. About 11 years.

Q. How many babies have you delivered?

A. I helped nine mothers.

Q. What do you do when you are waiting for the baby to come?

A. We get everything ready. We get a container for the after birth, a cloth to put under the mother, and scissors and string to tie and cut the umbilical cord.

Q. How do you get the mother to relax when they’re waiting for the baby to come?

A. Let them walk around in between the contractions and when they stop walking around in one of the contractions then the baby comes.

Q. How do you know when the baby is going to be born?

A. The baby is born when the contractions are on minute apart.

Q. What do you do when the mother is scared?

A. We just tell the mother what’s going on, we talk to her. We give her a cloth to bite on to when she is contracting.

Q. What do you use when the baby is being born?

A. We just use our hands and a hot water bag that makes the baby come faster. We put the hot water bag on the mother’s tummy or back. If the water bag is not broken we have to break it open with our fingers ourselves.

Q. Do you help push the baby?

A. Yes, during a one minute apart contraction we help push the baby.

Q. How do you handle the problem when a baby is being born?

A. If the baby comes out with the umbilical cord around its neck, we have to use our fingers as a hook to pull the cord over its head.

Q. How do you take the after birth out when it is stuck inside the mother?

A. You put hot water bag on the pelvis and push it out.

Q. What do you do with the after birth?

A. We put it in a plastic bag or a can and bury them. Never just throw them out in the bay or on the ground, because if you do throw the anywhere it will bring bad weather.

Volume 1