My first Nicaraguan babies!

Ah!!!!! I’m pregnant! Just kidding, I couldn’t even keep that one going, for fear my dad would have a heart attack on the spot (sorry dad). But seriously, my first Nicaraguan babies are, fingers crossed, coming into the world tonight! One of my main jobs here is to give health lectures to the women of the Casa Materna. I can’t remember if I’ve talked about the Casa Materna before or not, but here is a quick re-run. Nicaragua had an out of control maternal mortality rate. To fix this, they used a fairly innovative, sometimes faulty, “Plan de Parto” (birth plan). It mainly involves convincing women in the countryside to move to a Casa Materna 2 weeks before they give birth, so that when they give birth they will be near a health center, or in San Carlos’ case, a hospital. Because our casa maternal is the only one next to a hospital (the only hospital in the department) we get all of the really dangerous cases, including one of my favorite preggers, a beautiful girl who is always dancing, laughing and surprisingly outgoing, and who, I found out today, is only 13.


So, I have been working in the Casa Materna for the last 3 weeks, where two women, Doña Rehina and Emilsa, have had the unfortunate pleasure of not giving birth. Some women stay for only 4 days and others for up to a month, depending on when they give birth of course. The women who are only there for a couple of days come and go but these two women have been there so long that I have become close to them. This happens to be very easy when you have a lot of pregnant women (avg 12) with raging hormones and no family members nearby.

Doña Rehina is the typical women from the campo. This is her 5th child, a boy, has little education and is very timid and quiet. Emilsa is the opposite. She is a gem. She is young, lives in Los Chiles, a fairly urban place (….there are 5 sq blocks and a bunch of “pulperias”), and is a teacher. This is her first baby, which she decided to have after she graduated from University. Tonight I met her husband, her mother in law and her cousins, who all came to help her. It is true that Los Chiles is not only close, about 2 hours, but that the transportation is impeccable between the two locations. Dona Rehina and other women usually have to take a boat or a bus 3-4 hours and then walk another 2-3 hours to get back to their home (which, as you can imagine, is a ridiculous journey for A) a women 9 months pregnant or B) a women who just gave birth and has a new born less than 3 days old).

I can’t remember the last time I was this excited. These women are so incredible. I can’t wait to meet the new men in their lives. Have I mentioned that not one of these women will use painkillers unless they have a cesarean? I am unbelievably thrilled that these are the first two, out of hundreds of women, I will meet and support through their final weeks and pregnancy and that this is my job! Its not really, I have lots of other work to do, but this is at least part of my job. My 13 year old friend (who loves more than anything to make fun of the way I dance) told me today that she is going to name her baby after me, but she hopes her baby has more rhythm than I do. We will see what happens after 48 hours of labor, but I am hoping to at least be in the hospital with her when she gives birth, she needs all of the support she can get. We will see how many “Talia’s” or “Natalia’s” are running around Nicaragua after my time here. I doubt many.

Have I told you all that I changed my name? After being called “Chuker” for a week my friend Julia (Jill) helped me pick the name Talia. The day I told everyone my name was Talia, everyone started calling me Túker. So in the health center I go by Túker but in the Casa Materna and whenever I introduce myself, I am Talia. It’s sort of complicated, but I am just rolling with the Nicaraguan way of having 2 names.

Hopefully I will get a picture of the new babies once they’re born! I can’t wait (but don’t worry, I will) to have my own.