Blog Post 2 - Appreciation to the max

Appreciation to the max 

Hi again! Firstly can I say a massive thank you to all of you who read my last blog post and especially to those who messaged me encouraging comments about it. I really didn't expect so many people to read it so it's great to hear you found it interesting :)

So, I've been here just over a week now (as if!) and I'm continuing to have many great experiences, too many to be able to write down in a blog post, so I'll try and summarise as best as I can. For the brilliant midwives at RHH who are reading this, I thought I'd entertain you by listing some of the childbirth superstitions that are truly believed by the Filippino women that I've been caring for (those who aren't midwives will find this interesting too!!). So here goes...

1. Pregnant women should wear something on the their 

    head at night if they go out so that the baby stays warm.

2. Throughout pregnancy, women should cover

     themselves with a black blanket when sleeping so that

     they avoid having any pain when passing their mucosy

     show.

3. Doors and windows must be open when delivery occurs

    as they believe this will help them to have a quick and 

    safe birth.

4. You shouldn't eat from a pregnant woman's plate as

    it will make you feel sleepy for the rest of the day and 

    may even give you morning sickness type symptoms. 

5. Childbearing women shouldn't have their hair cut as it

    will mean that their baby will be born bald. 

6. Women who are pregnant should not eat fish from a 

     brook as these type of fish are very slippery and could 

     make the baby 'slip out' prematurely.

7. Pregnant women shouldn't wear necklaces as it could

    make the umbilical cord wrap around baby's neck.   

Hope they made you smile! :D One of the, I guess, traditions of having a baby here in the Philippines is that the Father goes out following the birth of his baby to buy food for the midwives who cared for your partner... this is something I think we definitely need to adopt in the UK. I've been brought McDonald's, cake, sweets, rice, chicken... you name it I've had it.

Although there's many great things about being a midwife here in the Philippines (lack of paperwork is another biggy) there's also many struggles and disadvantages. In September, I'm going to be working as a midwife in England, earning very roughly £21,000 a year, which over here converts to 1479211.47 pesos. I've also worked out how much midwives get paid here and converted that to pounds... in a year, midwives over here get £1,294.24. Basically nothing. Knowing this information makes it even more astounding when the staff are so generous with inviting you round their house for dinner, buying you gifts, and just in general, so happy and full of life.

All I can say is that they are God-loving people who trust immensely on their faith and the strength that God gives them day by day to get them and their family through. I can't say I've ever needed to practice this much faith in my own life before, living in a wealthy country with everything physically that I'll ever need right in front of me, but I'd hope that if circumstances changed I'd be as strong in my faith as these amazing people are here. I've been to church with a few of the midwives already and the way that they, and the rest of the congregation, praise God so freely and wholeheartedly puts me to shame when I see the poverty that they are living in when they go back to their homes. It's really challenged me to reflect on my upbringing and life back at home and see how fortunate I've been and how grateful to God I should be every single day.

So there you go, another blog post from yours truly. Hope it's given you some laughs, some "as if's!" and also something to think about. Thanks again for reading :)

Loves,
The Travelling Midwife x