The Austrian midwife who was present at 94 births, all of them offering a new experience, says she goes back to her native home a better midwife.
Credit: Elisabeth Sophie Schindegger
Her best day at work was when she was named a godmother to a child whose young mother had a difficult pregnancy.
“The most beautiful and happiest day, I think it was the day I was given an affiliate, a namesake at the hospital,” she tells ACI Africa, smiling.
Credit: Elisabeth Sophie Schindegger
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“I was on the shift when this patient came in with labor pains,” she says, and continues, “It was her first delivery, and as things are, first deliveries sometimes take longer. And this birth took a while too. And the woman was in a lot of pain. But as a midwife I tried to do the best I could, massaging her, comforting her, talking to her, telling her to take heart, it would pass! You'll make it, you're a strong woman. It’s not long now!”
“This birth was really difficult for all of us, both the professionals and the patient. But in the end this child was born. And I was so relieved I actually teared up. The mother was crying too, because she had finally made it, and it really was a very, very beautiful moment. At that very moment, I knew I had chosen the most beautiful profession in the world,” Elisabeth recalls.
Credit: Elisabeth Sophie Schindegger
Then the question came, “Elisabeth, do you want to be my daughter's godmother?”
“This made me so happy, this gesture of gratitude and thanks; of course I accepted and from that moment on we have been very good friends, the baby, and her mother, Anna Bella. I will always stay connected and linked to Angola, because here I found family is really like family,” she says.
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