That was the um. Midwife And then two others before her. And And then my
daughter, she's no longer here. She lives in Texas, wanted to become one.
So then, um, she, I told her to go down to the village and talk to one of
the midwives down there because my grandma was already gone. She went down
there and told her no because there's 3 generations that became midwives
here so no need to if you want to become a midwife or want to deliver
babies, go ahead and go through classes and you know work in a hospital
where you can deliver babies. Well, anyway, that's. Where we are now, um,
but anyway, 3 generations, midwives here in the village. And um It was my
grandma that delivered the baby for me. Mm.
I didn't have a hard time. It was like nothing. I have pains, but other
than that. I really didn't feel anything. I wasn't scared or anything. Can
you tell me about um your family? Was that typical? Like were you prepared
for the for birth and mm my mother delivered all of hers here. Did you see
any of those birds? I didn't know. I didn't. Well, it was, it's something
that I guess um was believed that no others should be there but the
midwife and and. Probably an older other lady to to be there with the one
that's having their baby, so none of us were there. So we see that it was
in the home. It was in the home. Um, did you have a lot of siblings,
sisters and brothers? Um, I have 5 brothers and 4 sisters, so 10 of us all
together. And then my mom lost um.
2, I think. I don't I remember, yeah, I think she lost 21 was already born
, the other one miscarriaged, so I should do it up in 12 of us. Are you in
the middle or the youngest or the oldest or um the 3rd. I have 2 older
brothers. Myself and then. Um,
Two sisters behind me, and then him and um another brother. So, and then
um. My mom remarried again after she lost her husband, her first husband,
and then she had 3 others, so that's why there's 10 of us all together.
Yeah, it's a big family. Do you, um, so when you were pregnant, how was
the pregnancy experience for you, for your with your first? It went real
well. I mean, I didn't, no problem.
The thing is, why didn't I ever go to see the doctor or anything, I just
carried it like that to tell I delivered. And um it was understood, it was
just planned that you would have give birth at home.
At that time, it didn't seem like anybody was going to the hospital to
deliver. Everybody was doing it here because we had 3 of them, 3 midwives.
So, um One of another one was my.
My mom's auntie. And then the other one was um. His grandmother from his
dad's side. So those ones were the midw before then I don't know. Who, who
the others were besides my great grandmother.
How old were you when you gave birth to your first child? 21.
Young, yeah, um, so. Did, uh, was the, the labor of a normal length or was
it long? It was the normal length. I don't, like I said, I didn't, I
didn't have problems, so.
It was just, like I said, how are they gonna do it, you know, but they,
they had everything ready. And so I said, well, I guess. I know, I guess
just by by um already delivering other babies, they knew what to do and
Even if a baby was um. Like, I don't know what they, how they, how they
say it, but if a baby is, the legs are down below the head up, then they
can turn the baby around. All these things and I say, how, who taught them
to do that or? They never went to school for anything, so they were taught
by different judges.
Yes. Um So were there any, are there, I'm assuming because you know we've
talked to many women in Native American culture and there were some
traditions that they had from different um tribal associate affiliations
have different set of, you know, traditions that they do. Did you have
anything like that or was it just, you know. Absent of those things. It
was just. Like, well, there was nothing done for me. It was just I was, um
, I was pregnant I when the time came. I told my mom I said I think it's
time for me to deliver and she said all right, I'll go get grandma, my the
midwife. I'll go get Grandma and she'll prepare. Now we'll pause for a
second. Let's pause and she I'll see it.
That little little man, little dog does not want to be outside, does it?
It's cold for that little dog probably, um, so after your first birth, um
, did you, you know, were you excited to get pregnant again, or what was
the length of time between the two? No, I was kind of scared because, um.
I didn't, I didn't want to just stay home and babysit and then not have
any money, so I needed to go to work. So in between time, that was my main
thing, how am I gonna raise this child if I don't have a job. You know, so
At that time I was still living with my mom.
Uh, um Was there a father involved of the of my stepfather, no, of the
baby? Oh no, I, I don't want no nobody that will abuse me and he was very
abusive. So, um, After this was after the baby was born, then he started.
Coming around and so my stepfather said no. Get out of your life, don't
even come back, and that was that and I never bothered to charge him for
anything. I had to go to work.
Did, um, did you grow up on this reservation? Yes. Do you still have
family here besides, you know, your, yes, my mom's gone, but I have some
of my sister's brothers here. So in that one leaves Corner from here and
then these two brothers leave. Next door to each other's and then my son
lives across from here, another son. And uh My sister and the sister lives
in in the village.
Do you, um, Is having children uh a community effort to help with each
other's babies and take care of each other's kids? Yes we do. That's nice
when you have family that, that you know for many generations in the same
area. That's one thing my mom always told us to not let each other's go.
Yeah, I say always stay together no matter what, stay together, so we're
trying to practice that as much as we can, but sometimes it doesn't happen.
I mean there's arguments and misunderstandings, but everybody comes back
when, um, when do you think, uh, women stopped using midwives and having
birth at the in their home in this area?
I'm not sure, but his grandma was the list. Last, uh, one that was left
here so I don't know, um.
I'm not sure when she passed, but she was getting so old that she said
that it's best. Um, you go see the doctor instead of her delivery.
Cuz we used to go down there and visit her often. When he was born. And um
That's what she was saying. You need to, I think it's, it's more safer now
than than to deliver at home. So your children had babies in the hospital.
Were you there? Um, no.
See, our belief is nobody's supposed to be there. They deliver by
themselves with midwives or just the thing we had here and only another um
elder or grown up somebody will be there with them, or maybe the oldest
sister. But I was never there when my mom delivered. So, how do you
prepare um young women for that experience? Did you talk to, you know, um
, pregnant girl, pregnant daughters or? About that. I'm When I was
pregnant, my mom didn't talk to me about anything, so I was kind of like
lost. What happens when I'm ready to deliver, but. And then it was time
for me to deliver and it just happened. I mean, like, I don't know
anything about it. I don't know what to do and so on, and it's not in the
hospital. But um.
My grandma was there, so. She was more or less like coaching me on or. You
know, this is what you do, this is what you expect and this is what I'm
gonna do and so on when you were in labor. Did you give birth in the
bedroom or in the living room or do you remember? Um, we had a middle
sitting um. Room and that's where I delivered. So nobody was there except
her, me and my mom. So it's kind of like
white only. How did you know when you were ready to deliver? I mean, not
if your mother wasn't talking to you about anything. How are you? It was
because of pain. I said I'm ready to deliver. I was pushing down and. I, I
let it go for a few minutes and then I finally told my mom because she was
going to work then. And then about 6 o'clock then I told her, I said, Mom
, I think I'm ready to deliver. And she was still gonna go to work, but my
stepfather said, well, she's ready to deliver, you can't go to work. You
know, did they see how far it dilated you were, or could they just tell by
how fast the contraction? Oh, they make you um. Yeah, they do check you.
They do check you, but it's not like you lay down on the bed to deliver.
You have to kneel at that time, that's what they did. They made me kneel
and um that's how I delivered. But she was sitting out front with me. So
All 3 babies were delivered like that.
Yes. Do you remember what preparations you did? Did you put out a sheet or
towels or sheets clean sheets? They do carry clean sheets and stuff like
that and um they were boiling water, heating up more water, and I don't
know what what else they were doing, but do you remember, um, so I assume
you didn't know the, the sex, the sex of the baby boy or girl, no. So was
your first baby, a boy or a girl? It's a boy. Yeah. In fact, he just took
us down to, to shop today. He's the one that takes me back and forth for
my appointment. So I said, well, maybe it's good to have a son, older son
, cause my daughter works.
Yeah, we have found that, um, you know, when we visit around most of the
women are are working and it seems to be a culture of women who work very
hard. Yeah. A very, it's like. There's more women working than men. I
think, uh, so, but anyway, that's the way I delivered my babies, 3 of them
, and then the 4th 1, then it was Halloween, so I told my mom, so I can't
deliver here. I gotta go down and deliver in Nobuquerque at the hospital.
And so they took me down there, which I didn't, um, since I wasn't
visiting doctors
and um I went down there and he was born Halloween Day.
That's the one that lives across from here. Do you remember if they gave
you medication for pain? None at all. They've been here
and you had someone in the hospital room with you? Yes,
well, nobody from here, but the nurses were there.
There was nobody that went with me. And um it was my uh sister-in-law that
drove me in and then she dropped me off and then after that I don't know,
I guess she left. Was, do you remember the difference between the both
types of birth if one was easier than the other one.
The hospital versus home. Hospital is easier than here, I think, but a lot
of lot of ladies that delivered here say it's it's easier here than
hospital,
so I don't know. I didn't, I didn't see no difference or feel no different.
Thank you for talking with us. Do you want to ask any other questions?
No, I was going to ask about if there if you remember a difference between
the hospital and the home. Excuse me. That's surprising that it was easier
in the hospital because we, we've heard that when women are in their own
home. And they can be in any position or walk around and all of that stuff
that it can be easier, especially for you who had totally unmedicated
either way like some women say it's easier in the hospital because of all
of the technology and all of that, but you didn't have any of that if you
were to have difficulties delivering, I'm sure the doctors will do
something, the nurses will do something for you, but here they're gonna
have to call the ambulance to take you down and you know, so, so I say
hospital is better. Do you remember um the procedure after you first told
your for your first birth and you told your mom, I think I'm ready to
deliver how much time was it before the midwife showed up and started
doing the preparations? Or here yes mm as soon as as soon as I told my mom
, then she went out to to get my grandma and uh my grandma was already
there all during the time. And I was asking her, uh how long is it gonna
take? and she said, well, I'm gonna have to check, see how much, how much
she had dilated and, you know, and that's what she was doing. So your
grandmother, was your grandmother's mother also a midwife? That's what the
other grandmother was saying. There she said 3 generations. So that means
somebody already. I don't know about and then my, my grandmother's mother
, I guess is the one in here so that's why when my daughter went down
there to ask them, they told her no, if you want to, if you want to do
that, if that's what you want to be, you know, go ahead and go back to
school and deliver in the hospital,
so. After she was gone, after the last midwife was gone, then that was it
, or maybe even before. And young girls were going to the hospital to
deliver, uh, is there any advice you would give uh a new mom who's
pregnant?
I would, I would tell, well, right now there's, um, there's somebody
always in the clinic that's willing to, to, um, talk to them and um. But I
would say go to the hospital.
It's so many drugs here in the village that I'm sure,
I'm sure they're they're doing drugs and they're drinking and I mean we
see, you see um a young pregnant woman. A girl walking down the street and
then he said, oh, she's still drinking and she's pregnant and see this is
the reason why I say it's best hospital
because you don't know, you don't know how she's going to deliver or it's
kind of scary. Yeah, it could be complications. All right, I think we're
good. Excellent.