A midwife was called to deliver another midwife’s case. She anxiously battled her way through miserable weather to a travellers’ site. She was welcomed and escorted to one of the caravans.
On entering, she was hit by a blast of warm air as the door opened and closed for her.
As her eyes accustomed themselves to the bright light, she saw a woman lying on a bed, surrounded by many small faces of children of various ages looking up at her.
She knew she could not send them out into the bitter night. So, she assembled them as best she could, to have enough room to deliver their next sibling. Her training and experience kicked in, and she set about her task to deliver a baby and mother safely.
All went well with her engrossed audience, until the baby was born. Naturally, they wanted to know if they had another brother or sister. When they saw her cut the umbilical cord, they wanted to know what it was. She explained it was how their mum fed the baby when it was in her tummy, just as she did for them before they were born. The children giggled and laughed and made yuck noises. At the thought y
Another question was: why had it not opened its eyes? Was it alright? She explained it was very normal and it would open them up when it was ready.
Glancing around at the assembled family, the smiling faces, sharing the gift of life, gave her an amazing feeling and a wonderful memory to take away with her.
A Shared Tale from Anne Watts and Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen.
© 2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen
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