A Heritage of Trust: A Primip Birth in a Rural Amish Community

The warm breezes of an almost-summer afternoon rustle through leafy stalks in the tiny garden outside their bedroom window. June sunshine pours in through red grid frames, casting its rays across a woman’s worn, bare feet. Bent over the side of the bed, arms resting on her handstitched quilt, Lizzie’s quiet laboring form breathes through another wave of labor. It’s Sunday afternoon, neighbors are gone away, and Aravah and I are here waiting with them in this little house on a hill, at the very end of a quiet gravel road. Beyond her bent and weary form, the hills and valleys stretch to the horizon, cattle graze, an old draft horse swishes his tail and gives an occasional whinny, birds call, and the clouds are soft and puffy against a deep blue sky.

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About Author: Amy Reynolds

Amy Reynolds is a CPM in central Ohio, where she learned to be a midwife. She has had the privilege of serving Amish and Mennonite families for almost 13 years. Amy’s travels to Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Africa, and Honduras have opened her heart to the global need for midwives. She is enrolled in Mercy In Action’s international midwifery program and plans to go serve out of country. Amy feels most at home doing births by lamplight.

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