Marion performed a quick Apgar test, checking the baby's heart rate, muscle tone, and coloring, then passed the baby over to me so that I might pat her dry and swaddle her in a cloth before placing the squirming bundle into her mother’s waiting arms. The baby quieted at last and began rooting around for Salome’s nipple almost immediately. With Salome having recovered her breath, Marion guided her through expelling the afterbirth. A couple more pushes and the rest of the umbilical cord and placenta slipped out with a wet plop onto the waiting medical tray.
Marion took the time to show me the various organs that I had only ever seen in photographs, and then Jason, who was staring adoringly at his wife and their new daughter, was invited to clamp and cut the umbilical cord.
Marion went about suturing Salome while I handed her sterilized supplies. Then Marion showed me how to measure the baby’s vitals and I recorded the results on a sheet of paper.
“What will you name her?” I asked them, gazing down at the newborn’s round cheek and pursed lips, eagerly sucking.
“Rosemary, after Jason’s mother,” Salome said and reached for her husband’s hand.
“That’s a beautiful name, baby Rosemary.” I smiled at them both. Then Marion and I exited the room to allow them some privacy.
“I’m a little concerned about the baby’s coloring,” Marion said as we gathered up the soiled bedding and brought it to the laundry room. “She’s showing signs of jaundice. I wish we had an incubator.”
“Is there anything else we can do?”
“Get the baby eating frequently so that the bilirubin passes out through the stools quickly. Sunlight helps too, so we’ll put her on a schedule of natural and UV light.”
“I can stay overnight if it will help, to monitor their vitals and make sure the baby is eating. That way you can get a few hours of rest.”
She nodded. “That’s probably for the best, and it will allow Salome to get some sleep too. You can reach me by radio.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Once we’d cleaned up and I’d started a load of laundry, I went back to the reception area where Cipher was still waiting with an anxious look on his face.
“How did it go?” he asked straightaway.
“Mom and baby are healthy. They named her Rosemary.”
“And you didn’t drop the baby?” he said with a smile.
I laughed, still giddy with adrenaline, having forgotten that that was my biggest fear. “Not this time.”
He pulled me into his arms and whispered in my ear, “You are incredible.”
I shook my head. “Salome is incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it. Growing an entire human being and then pushing them out into the world. It was something else.” I could still hear Rosemary’s first strong cry ringing in my ears. “Do you think it hurts? To be birthed?”
“Probably a little. Not as much as the mother suffers, I’m sure.”
“To go from feeling weightless in your mother’s womb and falling asleep to her heartbeat to being forced into the world. Having to deal with gravity and noise and temperature changes. It’s crazy.”
“Yes it is,” Cipher said. “You’re pretty wise, you know.”
I shrugged. “I’m learning.”
“How much longer will you be here?”
“I’m going to stay overnight to help Salome with Rosemary. You can go home, though, and I’ll see you at breakfast?”
“I’ll stop by in the morning to pick you up.” He squeezed me one more time, then lifted my chin. “Kitten, I’m really proud of you.”
I nodded, turning bashful at his praise. “Thank you.”
* * *
Salome and Rosemary(and Jason) slept overnight at the birthing center while I monitored mother and baby and Marion went home to get a few hours of sleep. I woke Salome every couple of hours so that she could feed her daughter and handled the diaper changes in between. Being able to hold the tiny infant in my arms and rock her to sleep was one of the best parts of the job, though the birth itself was pretty incredible too.
Once Marion had returned the next morning, scanned my vital reports, and checked to make sure the baby was latching on properly, mother and child were cleared to go home. Marion and I would do home visits for the next few weeks, and there would be a community naming ceremony when Salome healed fully. She asked if I’d attend.
