Rosalinda Delin
No Ordinary Midwife

Drops of sweat appeared continuously on the woman's body. In her arms, she held a newborn baby in a similar state. Both were bathed in sweat as they were sleeping on a platform with burning wood underneath it. The baby, less than a week old, was coughing. "Why wouldn't it cough? The whole room was already filled with smoke," commented Rosalinda Delin, recounting what she saw in 2003 when she first began visiting the homes of mothers who had just given birth.

Rosalinda, now Midwives Coordinator for the Village Maternity Clinic (Polindes) of Jenilu village at Atapupu Clinic for Belu Regency in East Nusa Tenggara, was stunned by what she saw. She was concerned this tradition would have a bad effect on the health of both mother and infant. "If it was allowed to go on, many newborns would not survive because they would get pneumonia and mothers would become anemic."

April 19, 2016