Story of Margerie by Amber Beckham (Photographer)
"Do you remember me?" I ask as I quietly squat down in front of a young woman I had become very familiar with. It was good to see her again. She shakes her head slowly staring plainly at me signifying that she did not.
....
Backing up 5 days, myself and some others had taken a break from the mobile clinic outreach to walk around the village and see what we could see. Greg, Bobby, Trey, Cowboy & Dustin were all with me as we strolled along. Bobby had gotten a call from someone in the area we were walking in informing him that help was needed just down the way. A young pregnant woman was laying on the dirt ground, unconscious and unable to respond.
We arrived and she was half-clothed, cooling under the shade of the straw awning...her neighbors and family hovered around her. As we approached closer, the circle broke open. After a few questions and not a lot of answers, the guys lifted her around their shoulders and realized though she was a thin pregnant woman, she was very dead weight. After a few "village blocks" she was passed off to two more guys to help with carrying her.
Once at the orphanage the medical staff was quickly on the scene taking her vitals and checking to see if the baby was still alive. She was moved to a cot in the hallway of the children's bedroom where everyone was coming and going - here she stayed for another 7 hours or so.
What commenced was that Margerie was indeed in labor and she was pretty close to delivering within the day, Dr. Jenny Chapman assessed. But then what we soon discovered and much to our surprised was that the unconscious, exhausted state she was found in, was from having a seizure. She was eclamptic and had never seized before in her life till now. And she kept having them too...while she was having contractions and getting closer to delivering this baby.
This was painful for all of us to watch. The concern grew as it got dark, and Margerie wasn't really coming to. She would open her eyes, but was not very responsive. The baby was still ready but the seizures were interrupting and potentially deadly to both mom and the baby.
Many prayers went up for this child and mother that evening. Prayers of faith because truly, we did not have the medicine we needed to help this woman. No x-rays, no machines, no nothing. Just the power of God to come through. As Margerie had one last seizure, we all got on our hands and knees and touched any part of her we could reach and prayed. "no more seizures, please, God." someone prayed..."protect this baby, " another prayed...and somewhat timidly but with certainty, I prayed, "little one, come out! you are wanted on this earth and we break any negative word spoken over this pregnancy in any way." Within minutes, Margerie was wide awake. And she was beginning to actually feel her contractions (praise God!). For the first time ever, it was a relief to see her move in pain. It meant something was happening, and we were on the right course...
We had called for some Cuban nurses nearby that might have the medicine we needed. Sure enough, within an hour, they were on the scene - hair net and all with smiles on their faces! We also realized that Margerie needed to get to a hospital in case of emergency c-section or any other labor problems that might arise.
The kids waited patiently outside to stay cool, and to give us space to work. It was past their bedtime and I think they were normally used to being near their bedrooms about this time of the night. But they were amazing, patient and even sang a song to us as we were about to go.
FIVE days later, I sit before Margerie in her home. Completely aware, healthy and even a smile quietly beams from her face as she holds her baby boy...Baby Greg (named after Greg Roberts). I'm not surprised she doesn't remember me after the trauma her body went through delivering him. But I was just happy she was alive and so was her baby, as if nothing had ever happened to them.
Dr. Jenny Chapman, was the star of the night for Margerie, among a few other medical staff as well. She said that it was a complete medical miracle. "God's mercy was sufficient to bring a healthy baby boy from a seemingly helpless situation is an amazing miracle...I don't know why God had me be in that moment (with her) but there must be something in the life of that child. Who knows what he will do in this life!"
Untitled from Amber Beckham on Vimeo.
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