Chapter 5 #2
Again, Clara nodded, exuding calm and control.
The last thing anyone wanted with a difficult birth was the parents panicking.
‘Bring me the boiling water,’ she instructed Richard, who immediately did as requested.
‘Annelise,’ said Clara. ‘I’m going to have to make a small cut so we can get your baby out. Is that all right?’
Annelise’s eyes widened, and the fear was evident. ‘Do what you need to,’ she said.
Richard returned with the boiling water and Clara went about sterilising the scissors, needles and thread. She gave Richard more instructions to bring fresh towels. It was good to keep him busy.
Clara soon had everything laid out next to her.
She looked up at Annelise. ‘When the next contraction comes, I’m going to make an incision.
It will sting but I don’t want you to focus on that.
All you need to do is think about your breathing and when I say, you push down hard.
As hard as you can so we can get the baby out. Understand?’
‘Yes,’ replied Annelise. She winced. ‘Contraction,’ she said as she began to draw in a long slow breath through her nose.
‘Richard, please hold Annelise,’ said Clara. She waited for the contraction to build before making the cut. ‘Push. Push. Push.’
The baby moved and Clara turned it, releasing the shoulders.
And then within seconds the child was born.
It had a slightly bluish tint to it, but Clara quickly wiped its face, making sure the airways were clear.
The baby took its first breath and cried out.
This moment never failed to move Clara. She never got over how privileged she was to bring a baby safely into the world.
‘Richard, I need you here,’ she said as she wrapped a cloth around the baby and passed it to him. ‘Annelise, I just need another push to deliver the placenta. You’re nearly finished.’
A minute later the placenta was delivered intact, much to Clara’s relief, and she clipped and cut the umbilical cord.
Richard was sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze, staring down at his child.
‘I think your wife would like to see her baby,’ she said with a smile as Richard snapped out of the trance he was in.
‘Annelise,’ he said softly taking the baby to her. ‘We have a son.’
Clara smiled as she watched the young couple shed tears of joy, cuddling one another and their son. ‘I’m sorry but I need to make a stitch where I had to cut you,’ she said. ‘It’s a clean cut and should heal nicely.’
Once she had finished, she washed her hands and carried out an examination of the baby. Everything was as it should be. ‘You have a very healthy son,’ she said. ‘I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Congratulations to both of you. Do you know what you’re going to call him?’
‘He is Isaac,’ Annelise said proudly.
‘Welcome to the world, Isaac,’ she said, handing the baby back to his parents, wrapped now in a fresh cloth and blanket. ‘May you grow strong and know only peace.’ It was a blessing she always said when a baby was born but today the words had a poignancy like never before.
She left the Bauer family alone while she went into the kitchen where she packed away her things and made a cup of coffee and some toast for Annelise.
She stayed for another hour to make sure both mother and baby were fine, and ensuring Annelise was confident in getting the baby to latch on to her breast to feed.
Richard had fetched David and Hannah Rothstein from their apartment next door to join the celebrations, however muted they might be.
‘Well, when I woke up this morning, I didn’t expect to be sitting here with a new baby,’ said Clara as she sipped her own coffee.
‘It will be Hannah’s turn next,’ said Annelise, smiling at her neighbour.
‘Thank you for coming,’ said Richard. ‘We didn’t know who else to ask. Nina, the woman who we would have called up, she was rehomed yesterday. Just like that. She didn’t know herself until they came knocking on her door. She had an hour’s notice, that was all.’
‘That’s terrible,’ said Clara. ‘Where did she go?’
‘We don’t know,’ said Annelise. ‘We were worried they would take us. They still might.’ She looked down at her child and softly ran her fingers over his head.
The giddy feeling of bringing a baby into the world was snuffed out at the notion. Clara felt sick at the thought.
‘We’re sorry we had to ask you,’ said David, ‘but we had no one else to turn to.’
‘Please don’t be sorry. I’m glad you did,’ said Clara. ‘It was an honour.’ She got to her feet. ‘I should go home. It’s getting late.’
‘Would you like me to escort you?’ asked David.
‘No. I’ll be fine. It’s safer you stay here,’ said Clara. She turned to Annelise. ‘I’ll try to come back the day after tomorrow. But if you are worried you must send for me again.’
Clara left the Bauers, holding onto the thought that they were a couple when she’d arrived and she was leaving them as a family. Despite the dangers, she was glad she had come.
When she arrived home, Friedrich was sitting in the living room on the sofa, his forearms resting on his knees with a glass of whiskey in his hand, the note and the midwifery book in front of him.
‘Friedrich?’ Clara could sense the tension in the air. She went over to him and sat beside him, her hand reaching out to touch his arm. She flinched as Friedrich recoiled from her.
He took a swig of his whiskey before placing the glass on the table.
He picked up the handwritten note she had left him.
‘I have been worried sick about you,’ he said, his voice stiff with forced control.
‘I had no idea where you were.’ He tapped the book with his forefinger. ‘And then I saw this on the table.’
Clara had rarely witnessed Friedrich angry and in all their years together, he had never shown any anger towards her. Yes, they argued, but Friedrich was always so reasoned about everything. She didn’t know how to deal with an angry husband.
‘I’m sorry but I didn’t want to say too much,’ she ventured.
His shoulders tensed. ‘A woman was in labour. There were complications. They didn’t have anyone else to ask.
’ Her words rushed out to try to counter the anger building in her husband.
‘The baby was in distress. It could have died. They both could have. I had to go.’ She reached out again for him and this time he didn’t shy away.
Friedrich blew out a long breath. ‘Are they all right now?’
‘Yes. A healthy baby boy,’ replied Clara relieved Friedrich’s anger was short lived.
‘I fear I will be wasting my breath asking you, begging you even, not to do that again,’ he said.
‘It’s a promise I wouldn’t be able to keep,’ said Clara.
Friedrich’s hand reached for hers and their fingers entwined as he wrapped his other hand around her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head. ‘In that case I won’t ask.’