***

Ma had left for the day, and i was told Maame Vic had gone to Kumasi. it was saturday, and i dropped by the health center to check if there were any cases.

the past few days had been busy, mothers were coming in and having babies, and i was learning more and more. the head of the foundation, Dr. Ed Gold, emailed me in response to my complaint that no one was sending for me on weekends and at night.

'you must remember that it is the antenatal aspect that is the most important part of our services.' then he gave me a list of things to check and make sure were being attended to during those visits.

i was glad that he wrote that, it gave me perspective. but the antenatal check-ups with Ma weren't explained very well. most of my questions went unanswered, or i got laughed at. i really scrambled for information and had to be persistent in my questioning.

efreeyeh walked out from the maternity ward and raised her eyebrows. "we have a case, inside." she said. "will you deliver her?"

i wasn't sure if that was the best idea. wasn't there any body more qualified than me around?

"where is vera?" i asked.

"she's in there."

"than let's go."

she turned around and walked back in with me.

"when did she come in?" i asked.

vera replied "this morning. vic said she will deliver at 2. so 4 hours. will you stay to deliver the baby?"

i gave her a long serious look. i wanted to know if the request was a serious one. i assessed the situation.

there was efreeyeh, vera, and me- and a very pregnant woman sweating and snapping her fingers every time she felt pain. snapping fingers seems to be the way to deal with extreme pain in the village. i've noticed it a lot.

i had never seen vera in the delivery room but she struck me as the most competent. that was until she listened for the fetal heart rate. she put the fetascope up to the patients stomach in the wrong direction, and in the place the baby's butt would be.

"the other way." i said.

"oh." she turned it around.

"and listen here" i suggested.

"oh." she laughed.

i wanted to make fun of her only because of the needle incident, to make her feel inexperienced and foolish too. i realized that was not a nice thing to do. so i only laughed at her a little.

"you're laughing at me?" she said, running over to me and swatting my arm.

"efreeyeh, how many babies have you delivered?" i asked, dodging vera's attack.

"two."

"have you already given her a vaginal examination?" i asked.

"yes, she is four cm. vic said she will deliver at 2."

this whole prediction thing was bothering me. they kept walking out of the ward while the woman was sprawled out on the delivery table, in a state that could well produce a child. they were too confidant of vic's guess, and i let them know it. it was the only thing they were resting their faith in, because underneath vic's words 'she will deliver at 2' i felt a swirl of questions and uncertainties arising from us all.

i remember being about 10 years old when family from all over came to stay at our house. cousins, aunts, uncles, they were everywhere. the adults decided they needed a night out and hired a local teenager to babysit all of us. the "nanny" faked confidence in front of my parents and crumbled shortly after they left. my littlest cousin started wailing uncontrollably, meanwhile the other ones got a tangled up ball of string wrapped around our entire house, through every room, knocking down breakables and keeping me running all around. i have a distinct memory of watching the string tugging at a green sea shell shaped ceramic lamp balancing high on a ledge. 2 teen boys had stopped by and only added to the mayhem. dinner burned, diapers were dirty, and where had my brother gone? the feeling was that of slight excitement, because after all- the parents were out! but mostly underneath the thrill was a sense of dread . i was only 10 and i felt responsible for it all.

i could feel that same situation arising, just in a different fashion. this time i was hoping efreeyeh wouldn't take the role of babysitter, but would pull through. i was praying for her ability to shine through. i didn't know how to handle complications so i asked God for a smooth delivery.

"sister akua is going to do the delivery." efreeyeh said.

i had watched Ma's hands time and time again, paying special attention to each maneuver. i was ready if no one else was.

"i'll do it." i said.

we both had gloves on our left hands, they were bloodied from an examination. we heard the screen door open and efreeyeh whipped hers off and yelled at me to do the same. "vic is coming, if she sees the glove she will beat you! throw it away! don't let her see!"

i didn't move.

"akua, she'll insult us, take it off!"

i had a hard time imagining Vic getting angry at us. plus, wasn't she in kumasi?

"akua!"

"efreeyeh! you said Vic was in Kumasi!"

she started laughing, like she was ashamed.

the woman began to heavy moan. the sound was familiar to me now. the baby was coming.

"is Vic here or is she in Kumasi?"

vera walked in the room.

"vera" i asked "where is Vic?"

"she's traveling."

"is she gone?" i needed her to be more clear, but she was intent on being vague. i didn't want to do the delivery if somebody much more qualified was available.

the string was tangling around the house.

the woman started letting out heavy grunts.

"go get Vic." i said.

"she'll come at 2."

it was 1:55.

the baby's head was close to emerging, so i stood in the position that Ma takes when she does the delivery. it also felt the most comfortable for me.

Vera was at the foot of the bed, and Efreeyeh was standing across from me. we were all huddled around with our hands up close. i wanted to gently massage the perineum and stretch it just a small bit to help make room for the child but each time i put my hands up to the woman's vagina Vera moved them out of the way.

"akua don't." she said. then her and Efreeyeh spoke quickly in Twi. i wanted them to back off, let me work my magic, unleash it. but instead of that, the woman let out a great roar, Vera ran around to where i was at, pushed me out of the way, and caught the baby.

i stood there wondering what had just happened.

the baby was crying loudly, thank God, but a strong flow of blood gushed everywhere. more than i had seen before.

i saw the string tangle around the lamp, it was balancing on the edge of the mantel, where were the parents?

"akua ko fa bra!!" efreeyeh was thinking quickly, but i didn't know what she wanted me to go and get.

"in english!" i said.

"the drugs, get the drugs"

i was hoping i wouldn't have to do the injection. even after my lesson it was going to take a longer time than necessary for me to figure out how to get the drug into dispenser. i sensed time was precious.

i went to Vera and took the baby out of her arms. i knew what to do with him. i'd let the two of them take care of the woman. i handed her the ergometrine.

efreeyeh was dripping in sweat, and so was i. the third stage had brought on a slight panic amidst us all. again, i wished i had more education.

blood was everywhere, i put the baby on the table and vera came and started to dress him. there wasn't any form to any of our actions. i went to see what efreeyeh was doing. the cord had been clamped too far down, it should have been done closer to the woman's body. just as i began to distress a little more, Vic walked in.

i looked at the clock. it was 2:01.

she went straight to the base of the bed and looked at what was going on.

"there is a knot in the cord here, do you see? you should always loosen a knot if you see one, it could potentially harm the baby by keeping the blood flow from getting to him. but in this case it seems to have worked out well, you should have clamped the cord up here, see? and she is bleeding too much. have you already injected her?"

efreeyeh explained the situation and everything seemed to have been done correctly.

"has she delivered the placenta?" she asked.

we said no.

efreeyeh and i gathered around her like a mother hen and her chicks, while she walked us through the next few steps of delivery, and then yelled at us for not calling her in earlier.

"did you weigh the baby?" i asked vera. she was wrapping him up in a blanket.

"no" she said. she undressed him and put him on the scale.

everything felt a little off. it helped me to see Ma's experience and grace in a different light. being excellent at something, i thought, is making a difficult task look effortless. Ma was excellent at delivery. i wanted her to come back. she had a lot of control.

the baby and mother ended up leaving the clinic healthy and in tact.

when i showed up to work on Monday morning, Ma threw up her arms. "HEELLOO!!" she said. "so you got a case this weekend!?"

"yesss."

"and was it nice?"

i squinted my eyes, trying to think up a response.

"nice?"

"yes, did you deliver her?"

"no i didn't. vera pushed me out of the way."

was i really tattling?

"she did! aahhhhhhhaahahaaha. so vera delivered her?"

efreeyeh was sitting there quiet and submissive.

"and efreeyeh." i said.

"and did they do it nicely?"

i wasn't jiving with her context of the word "nice", so i didn't say anything. the silence became too awkward and my shrug didn't release Ma's inquisitive eyes so i said "okay okay, just put it this way, i've only ever watched a master." i gave her a little smile. "how can you follow up a master."

it wasn't even 9 a.m. and i had already tattled and now i was kissing up. it felt like childhood all over again.

"well any way, you are all learning. but next time, you will do it." Ma told me.

i looked over at efreeyeh. "you weren't all that bad." i said, and we all laughed. "okay" i said "next time, i'm ready."