A Short Story by Elaine Carlson

She was pretty sure this was the house. The dispatcher told her they didn't have much information but to get there as quickly as she could. She went up to the front door and knocked. Pretty soon a skinny girl came to the door. She guessed she was in the third grade.

"Hello. I came to see Janet Mason."

The little girl stared at her before saying, "Ms. Mason doesn't want any visitors."

"I came to help her," she said. "Is she going to have a baby?"

"Do you know how to deliver a baby?"

She had often been questioned about her qualifications before but never by such a young child.

At least she came with her black bag. She hoped that would impress the child.

"Mandy! Mandy!"

So now she knew the girl's name and she wasn't going to wait for any invitation to go inside. She followed as Mandy crossed the living room and went into a bed room. She saw a woman stretched out on a bed and in obvious distress.

"Are you who the Department of Health said they would send?"

"Yes. I am Beth Downs and I am a midwife."

"I am so glad you came," she said. "This labor is lasting too long. The baby should be born by now."

"It can be hard because labor can last a long time," she said. "Is this your daughter?"

"Yes," she said. "Her name is Amanda but we call her Mandy."

"Hello Mandy," she said. "I am glad to meet you and I hope you can help me when I am tending to your mother."

"And I am pleased to meet you Ms. Downs," she said. "I will help you."

"It's okay to call me Beth."

She smiled at Mandy and was glad when she smiled back. She was sure she had the proper approval to take care of Ms. Mason.

"When did you decide to make this a home birth?"

"I couldn't register at Saint Joseph's," she said. "We owe them for the last time."

"Mandy?"

"Brandon," she said. "He is two and Amanda is eight – almost nine."

She needed to ask more questions but she wanted to tread carefully. She was afraid Ms. Mason would become annoyed and get to the point where she did want to answer any more questions.

"Has a doctor or midwife seen you since you got pregnant?"

"I saw Dr. Carter," she said. "He is a very good doctor."

She knew Dr. Carter and knew he only had admitting privileges at St Joseph's. And that he didn't go to homes to deliver babies.

"Did you have anyone help you?"

"My sister was here for the night and when she left this morning my mother came for several hours," she said. "And Amanda was a lot of help the whole time."

"You are lucky you have such a good daughter," she said. "Now I would like to examine you." 
The exam didn't take too long. And she was happy to see that everything was going well. She was pleased because this was not going to be a difficult delivery.

She grabbed the black bag and put it on a chair. The nightstand already had too much on it and she didn't think it would be secure enough on the bed. When the daughter came back she told her to stand by the chair and give her what she wanted from the black bag.

"I want the stethoscope," she said. "It is on the top and it has long tubes."

Mandy handed her it and started to listen to what was happening inside of Ms. Mason. When she realized she was frowning she started to smile. Making a patient worry was the last thing she wanted to do.

"A good heartbeat," she said. "Your baby has a strong heartbeat and is a strong kid."

"When is it going to come?"

"You are fully dilated," she said. "But the baby still needs to move into place. We talking about one or maybe two more hours."

"Do you think it is a boy?"

"Well, at this stage we cannot tell."

Beth told Mandy that she didn't need anything more. And she handed her the stethoscope.

She turned to look at both the mother and daughter.

"This is the difficult part of labor," she said. "Labor has taken so long but we still have to wait. Janet, maybe you are tired and would appreciate some sleep."

"Yes I would appreciate a nap," Janet said. "It has been so long since I have had any sleep."

They all seemed to be glad to have a short break. Beth and Mandy played Hearts while Janet slept. Hearts is not really a good game for two but they enjoyed playing against each other. Beth told Mandy she had a cousin named Amanda but that she wasn't called Mandy.

Beth was not quite accurate when she said they only had to wait an hour or two. One hour, then two hours, and finally three hours passed without the baby giving any message (or nudge) to Janet. Both she and Mandy were worried about the time but Beth kept telling them that it will happen when it happens.

Finally at three hours and twenty minutes Janet came running and said, "I think it is beginning to happen."

Beth settled her down on the bed and stood by. Within five minutes the baby came out and she reached out to catch. Janet was crying.

"What is it?" Mandy almost shouted, "Is it a boy?"

"No honey. It is a girl," Beth said. "It is a beautiful girl. What are you going to name her?"

"Rosie." Janet said..

"Mother, can we call name her Beth" she said."We should name her Beth. Please!"

"You, your father and I decided if we had a girl to name her Rosie."

"Oh can we name her Beth?"she said. "Beth is such a nice name. We can make Rosie a middle name."

As Beth was getting ready to say goodbye she heard Janet saying "Beth Rosie" then "Rosie Beth" then "Beth Rosie"over and over. She guessed the woman wanted to figure out what name combination sounded better.

It was certainly exhilarating to Beth to realize that little girl not only approved of the way she helped her mother out but she also wanted to name her new sister after her. Now that was the nicest U-Turn she had ever experienced.