Deep breath! Good job.
You're a beautiful mama. — Yes, she is.
Everybody's birth story is different.
Some people have excellent experiences in the hospital but I had traumatic birth experiences with my
oldest sons and I wanted to do something different.
I didn't get the care that I really wanted from that hospital.
The things that I've heard amongst our black
and brown moms have not been good at all and a lot of them are afraid to go into
the hospital and this was before even now but now it's even scarier.
When we first started hearing about Covid back in December, in China,
I thought this isn't going to impact us.
The beginning of March is when things really started to hit the fan.
We're only serving 2% of the population
usually for home birth and currently right now I'm getting anywhere between four
to seven inquiries a day.
We work in a region that has a high death rate for people of colour,
that are birthing and there's still a lot of poverty, there's a lot of
babies that don't do well.
I'm getting phone calls from up to two and a half hours away now
from people saying, I don't feel safe, I don't want a birth in the hospital,
please will you be my midwife?
Mummy has an appointment, so you guys have to get downstairs, OK?
Hello.
Hi baby!
There we go!
How are you doing today?
Alright, go downstairs, please.
What I see happening in the hospitals on a personal level,
a lot of the doctors don't listen.
And this happens to more often,
if you can't speak English, they're not going to listen to you, if you are brown,
they are not going to listen to you, if you've ever been on drugs, they're not going to listen to you
and they almost treat you as lesser which to me is a horrific
experience to have especially while delivering a baby.
So how are you feeling?
I'm ready to have the baby but then I'm like, I'm not ready yet.
37 in 5 today?
On Saturday I'll be 38 weeks.
We are like in the ... — Finishing mark.
It is not out of the realm of possibilities to have baby number four
at any point here.
I usually think I've like been at hospital giving childbirth quite a lot,
I've become more comfortable with it since Mekiya is comfortable with it.
This time you get to have a home birth with your man there, your mum there,
who's also the midwife assistant.
I'm still worried.
I'm still scared.
Because my baby will have no immune system.
So I have already told all of my family and friends,
you cannot come to my house.
Because this is a family that's all
quarantining together, we were able to at least have a little more relaxation there.
You're ready to have the baby? — There's no choice now.
Careful, they're heavy.
I'm the only one that looks like Darth Vader.
Hey, hey. Hi sweeties.
So she had a couple that did last one minute and a couple that didn't.
OK.
So our spiritual practice is that we honor our ancestors
in most of the things that we do.
What we are doing is kind of cleansing negative energy and
then bringing this kind of the spirit of our ancestors in to help her get through labour.
All of the elder women in my family were midwives so that's kind of
the spirit and the energy that we want here.
It's like a cold ... — Yeah.
It's cold water.
OK, great.
We are going to be listening every half hour now.
OK.
Deep breath and down into your butt, here you go.
Good job, good job, good job!
There we go ...
Alright, nice deep breath ...
Down again! — Deep breath and down again!
It's OK, it's OK, it's OK.
Just breath.
There you go.
Congratulations, beautiful!
There we go!
Congratulations!
Look at that beautiful girl!
Baby, we've waited so long to meet you.
I'm really excited that I got to deliver my own granddaughter.
I'm very excited.
It's nice to see the bonding between them and for Gianna to be able to catch
her own grandchild ...
That's where this is special.
And even in the middle of a pandemic, life goes on.
Dear Jordan, you were born in a time of uncertainties but one thing we never
second-guessed was our love and excitement for you.
This pandemic has been confusing, scary and uncommunicative
but it could never stop your shine.
The days leading up to your arrival was hard, mummy had many days and nights that were
draining mentally and physically.
We waited and planned and planned and
waited day after day and anticipation to see your face.
Unfortunately one week after your birth, we are still on lockdown.
Even though moving towards a less restrictive phase, the scariest part for
us is to worry about your immunity and the people who are coming around you.
I promise as your mummy that I will do everything I can to protect you both now
from this and in the future as you grow and experience different trials and tribulations.
In a time so dark, babies are seen as hope and peace.
The signal that everything will be OK and although you are not the first baby nor
the last baby born into this quarantine time, you are more special to this family
than anyone could imagine.
You are a rose that grew from the ashes,
the light at the end of a dark tunnel and the glue that held our sanity if even for just a moment.
We love you Jordan Rose and you will always know that.