Karibu Kipchumba! (Welcome Kipchumba)

Yesterday a very special baby was born at our hospital.  In Marakwet culture, a child is given a tribal name which is based on the circumstances of their birth.  There are names for babies born when it's raining, born at night, born in the morning, born at the times when the goats come home, etc.  Boys' names start with "Kip" and girls' names start with "Jep" or "Chep".  "Chumba" means white person, so Kipchumba is a boy who was born when a white person, or visitor, was present.  As you can imagine, over the last almost 2 years, I've delivered many Jepchumbas and Kipchumbas.  However, this one will hold a special place in my heart.
I first met Monicah in September 2010 at one of our mobile clinics to Lodengo, in East Pokot.  She told me her story of how she had lost 2 babies at just 5 months of pregnancy.  She had no living children and was desperate for a child.  When I saw her, she was about 11 weeks pregnant.  The history she gave sounded consistent with cervical insufficiency, a condition where the cervix is not strong enough to hold a pregnancy to term and usually the pregnancy is lost between 16 and 24 weeks.  So, we brought her back to Kapsowar with us and I put in a cerclage - a stitch in the cervix that holds the pregnancy in.  She then went back to Pokot and I prayed that this would be the answer for her.  I saw her each time we returned to Pokot and rejoiced with her that her baby continued to grow and she had no signs of labor.  When she reached 36 weeks, she came back to Kapsowar and I removed the stitch.  I expected that she might deliver soon after that and encouraged her to stay here so she could have a safe delivery.  Nearly all Pokot women deliver at home and because of that have a high neonatal mortality rate.  She stayed here with Mikel (see previous blog posts) and came in Tuesday night in labor.  Wednesday morning she delivered a healthy baby boy - Kipchumba!  Despite no pain relief during labor, she wore a huge smile and gave me a big hug.  You can tell she is completely infatuated with her little one and we are praising the Lord for His blessing in her life.
Thank you to all of you who financially support the ministry here - your generosity helped pay for her initial surgery and for her delivery in a safe environment.  Thank you also to all of you who faithfully pray for me and for my patients here - your prayers are being answered every day.

Me with Monicah and Kipchumba (under all those blankets)

Look at that precious face!