The jungle fell silent

By Sheryl Martin Hash, Guest Blogger

Editor’s note: This blog contains sensitive content that may be uncomfortable for some readers.

Most of us have heard the story of Jesus’ birth. The Savior of the world was born in rudimentary conditions and placed in a feeding trough (manger) amid barnyard animals. Not exactly what you might expect for the King of kings.

It’s hard to imagine that such primitive circumstances still exist for new mothers today – but they do.

Aminah, who lives in Uganda, chose to have her fourth child at home after delivering her third child at the closest hospital, which was 30 miles away. That experience, which Amirah described as “unbearable,” included riding on the back of a bicycle – while in labor – to the facility, waiting in a long line to be admitted once she arrived, vying for the attention of a midwife and having no privacy during delivery. Plus, if Ugandan women don’t bring their own medical supplies – including surgical gloves – to the hospital, nurses may send them home or refuse to help them.

Giving birth at home is risky, as well. Most impoverished women in rural villages live in shacks with dirt floors, lack proper supplies, use dirty knives to cut the umbilical cord, don’t have clean water and must give birth by candlelight. And, of course, if there are complications, they are not equipped to handle them. All these factors can cause serious problems.r

She didn’t know any better

But the horrifying actions of a woman named Dut drive home the importance of proper birthing facilities far better than anything I might say. I edited this story nearly 15 years ago for my friend, writer Mike Schueler, and I still vividly remember the details. I’d like to share an excerpt with you:

Sweat dripped from Dut’s short, slender body as she hollowed out a grave in the floor of the Colombian rain forest.

Only minutes earlier she had given birth to her ninth child, a boy, but didn’t like what she saw. The baby’s head was misshapen, pointed – a temporary defect doctors would recognize as the result of an intense labor.

But there were no doctors here. Dut was ignorant and alone, except for several of her children who had tagged along with their mother as she ventured into the bush that day.

They watched as Dut laid their brother’s tiny body in a shallow hole and began to cover him with dirt. The newborn shrieked in protest, his arms and legs struggling against the handfuls of cool, damp soil that pressed against his skin.

His cries weakened as a wave of earth washed across his face, followed by another and another. Abruptly, the jungle fell silent. Without pause Dut stood, brushed the caked blood and grime from her hands and turned toward home.

This was the fifth child Dut had buried alive – one simply because it was the smallest twin, who her tribe believed was possessed by evil spirits.

This is what happens when poverty-stricken women don’t have access to medical professionals … when they live too far away from health clinics … when they have received no prenatal education and care … when they must rely on traditional superstitions and practices. Dut did not kill her children out of malice; she simply didn’t know any better.

You can help stop needless death

Senseless deaths like these will continue until these women have a better alternative. They will keep giving birth in unsanitary homes or out in the wild until they are treated with dignity and respect at health facilities – or until a proper birthing center is available to them. Giving birth should be a joyous occasion in their lives, not one shrouded in fear.

Julie’s Heart Cry is working to establish professional birthing centers with trained medical staff in several remote villages of sub-Saharan Africa. Disadvantaged women will be able to deliver their babies in a safe, nurturing environment and receive the medicine, care and follow-up instructions they need to keep their infants healthy.

As we rejoice this Christmas about the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and remember His humble beginnings, let’s also be mindful of the babies still being born in fields, in jungles and on dirt floors.

During this season of giving, you can ensure a positive outcome for one impoverished mother and her unborn child. Your year-end, tax-deductible gift of $15, $25, $50 or more will enable Julie’s Heart Cry ministry to build more birthing centers and save more babies.

I only wish a birthing center had been available for Dut.

To make a financial gift or sign up to become a monthly donor, click here.