A Birth in Tedda

A Western physician in rural Ethiopia finds himself helpless when a local woman insists on delivering a baby her own way. A chicken and frankincense are used to ward off an evil spirit, and the woman delivers a discourse on her delivery techniques.

I had been in Tedda, a village in the northwest highlands of Ethiopia, for months, caring for several thousand Ethiopian Jews passing through a transit camp en route to Israel. They walked through mountain highlands and malarial lowlands for up to 3 weeks, armed and traveling in groups for protection from bandits and wild animals. The camp was a grassy site of a few acres, with residents living in tents, shelters, and papyrus huts. There were few amenities except for a small clinic. It was a two-bedroom cottage with a cement floor, cold water, and a Western toilet, making it the most modern building in the village.

Friday was quiet. In the evening I lit Sabbath candles with the children and invited the residents into the clinic for Kiddush, blessing the Sabbath wine. There had been no electricity for several days, and most people retired early. Saturday was blazing hot, and we slept all afternoon.

The early evening calm was broken when someone came in to inform me of a sick woman. I asked him to bring her to the clinic. Most of the people had no experience seeking medical care and had never seen a physician. We constantly encouraged them to come in when they were ill. My job was to treat their malaria, tuberculosis, scabies, and malnutrition and to keep them well. Childbirth was a particular challenge. In their villages, births were assisted by local women, trained or otherwise. I was not confident in their skills and knew that sterile technique was nonexistent. At the …