Unusual Delivery
8:19 min. - A story about the grandmother’s second delivery. It was a girl, whom they called Michèle.
Transcription
Evelyne St-Onge - I never told you how I gave birth to your aunt Michele on the train to Schefferville.
I was going to Schefferville by train with your father, a month before my due date. We were with Caroline Vollant from Betsiamites. My labor pains started around noon. I went to the bathroom and my waters broke. I lost the mucous plug. I told your father and the conductor. They took me to the front of the train. An Innu woman was there, and said she would have helped me if she didn't have children with her. No one listened to your father, they didn't believe him when he told them what was happening. When the train stopped, your father yelled that I was having contractions every 5 minutes. A railroad employee told me that a doctor was waiting for me at Mile 224. A helicopter was waiting. A small helicopter. The doctor came with all his luggage, lots of luggage. My labor pains were not too close together, and less intense. When I got off the train, I remember that everyone in the train had their noses pressed against the window to look at me. With all the luggage, there wasn't any room for your father. "It's time for you to deliver, we'll take you to Labrador City". The doctor examined me in the little cabin and said that he would take me. "It's time for you to give birth, we'll take you to Labrador City". I felt all right. With all the doctor's luggage, there wasn't room for your father in the helicopter. Your brother Benoît and Caroline would continue on to Schefferville. I felt strange when we started to lift off. They took me out of the helicopter close to a playground, where some women were playing sports. The ambulance was waiting for me, but I went in the police car. When I got to the hospital, everyone spoke English. A nurse came along, she spoke French and knew your grandmother. She looked at me and started to cry... So did I. "You're going to give birth this evening," she said. But I really needed to go to the bathroom badly. It was you coming. They took me to the delivery room instead, as fast as they could. You came out right away, you were born at 5 pm and your father hadn't yet arrived. You were so tiny. Your father held you in the palm of his hand. When I woke up, your father still hadn't arrived, but I had a bouquet of flowers. It was the girls who played sports at the park where the helicopter had landed. Your father was very happy to have a girl, we didn't know the baby's gender.
Music - Kathia Rock
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Unusual Delivery
8:19 min
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Nametau innu: Memory and knowledge of Nitassinan, a website dedicated to the Innu nation in which elders pass on their skills and knowledge to younger generations.
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