More Babies Prefer Home Birth

LIKE ANY 8-DAY-OLD BABY, Jimmy Gaffney spends most of his time either nursing or sleeping. Peacefully alternating between the two while cradled in his mother’s arms in the family’s sun-dappled Hamilton backyard, the robust newborn looks like a promotional photograph for parenthood. And yet, so far as the state and city of his birth are concerned, this baby does not officially exist.

He was born at home, in May, with only his mother and father, Alana and Matt Gaffney, in attendance (his two excited siblings, who had slept through most of the five-hour labor that culminated in his 4 a.m. birth, came in just as their father was placing the freshly born baby on his mother’s chest). The family is in no rush to notify the authorities about Jimmy’s birth; they have been taking it easy for the past week, sticking close to home and bonding with the new addition while Alana recovers. A call to register his birth with the Baltimore City Health Department will summon a visit from a home nurse, and the Gaffneys are not quite ready for outsiders, particularly bureaucrats asking a lot of questions about a process they regard as utterly natural—and completely private.

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“No one was in the district to do it and when the mothers got sick, they called me,” she said.

Morant has lost count of the number of children she has delivered.

“I can’t say how many of them I have delivered, but it’s plenty - a couple hundred. I deliver mother, her daughter and her grand-children. Sometimes, one mother will have 12 or 13 children and me deliver all of them,” Morant said proudly.

The community hero bragged that she has never had a mishap while conducting her deliveries.

“Sometimes, they come for me in a taxi and I do everything for them. I wash their nappies, cook porridge and make sure that everything is right,” said Morant, smiling.

She said she does not charge a fee for helping people, but appreciative persons sometimes reward her for her efforts.

Morant was born in the community of Harmons and went to St Jago Primary School. She worked as a domestic helper for some time and has never been trained as a midwife.

The last child Morant delivered was her great-granddaughter two months ago. Her granddaughter Bobbeth Powell, whom she also delivered, told The Gleaner she preferred to give Morant full charge over her children’s entry into the world.

Powell was awaiting a taxi to go to the hospital, but time was running out, so Morant decided to take control.

“She has more patience with you and I am more comfortable than when I am at the hospital,” said Powell. Morant has delivered four of Powell’s seven children.

“I was not afraid because my grandmother prays for you before she delivers the child,” Powell told The Gleaner.

“I feel good when I see the children who I delivered. They all respect me and most of them call me Mama. It’s my children in a sense, but it’s not my birth,” she said.