An Obstetrician's Thoughts on Christmas

I was walking home from the hospital last week, after my third C-section of the day. It was dark, the stars were out, and I picked my way over a rocky downhill road to my house while my own baby kicked inside of me. The day and the environment made me start wondering about Mary. The Bible is notoriously absent of all the details we seem to want to know. Why are some passages repeated in great detail, sometimes retold in multiple passages, and some are far too sparse (in my opinion)? Perhaps it wasn't so important to know the details of Jesus' birth. In fact, I am as an obstetrician probably more curious than most.

What I do know is that birth is a messy, noisy process. "It was not a silent night, there was blood on the ground" starts one of our favorite Christmas songs, "Labor of Love" off of Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God CD. So much more true than visions of a baby Jesus slipping quietly into a peaceful looking stable. First of all, to walk or ride a donkey long distances over bumpy roads in your third trimester is excruciating (well, I can't speak from experience about the donkey part, but it's pretty bad even in a car over rough Kenyan roads). Cramping, back aches, contractions, going to the bathroom (by the side of the road while squatting I'm sure) every several hours. Sleeping on the ground. Hip pain. Swollen ankles. Blech. Poor Mary. And as I work in a developing world situation, where many women die in childbirth and many more babies die during that same process, I wonder what she was thinking. Was she afraid? Did she have assurance that everything would go well? Did she know what to expect? Was she sure that Jesus would be ok but not so sure about her own well being?

When labor started, how long did it take? Did God give her a break? Was she one of those lucky women who have a quick and low pain labor and delivery? Was it a typical first labor with stops and starts, "false" labor, days of contractions, two hours of pushing? Was there anyone there to help her? Was it Joseph, or a midwife or other kinswoman, or was she alone? Did she know what to do and when to push? How did they cut the cord? Was Jesus BREECH?! If she had delivered in this day and age would she have ended up with a C-section? An epidural? Was there fetal distress? A cord around his neck? Meconium stained fluid? Was he on time or early, or late? Did he cry right away?

Yikes. I think of more details than most, probably. But in the end, what matters is that THAT DAY, in Bethlehem, all of God's promises began to be fulfilled. For thousands of years, God had been spinning his plan of redemption. For thousands of years, His people had been waiting for this Savior. That day, His Son came into the world, to set us free. Light into the darkness. Hopes fulfilled. Amen and amen. Merry Christmas, friends.

Labor of Love, lyrics by Andrew Peterson

It was not a silent night

There was blood on the ground

You could hear a woman cry

In the alleyways that night

On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean

And the cobblestones were cold

And little Mary full of grace

With the tears upon her face

Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain

It was a cold sky above

But for the girl on the ground in the dark

Every beat of her beautiful heart

It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph by her side

Calloused hands and weary eyes

There were no midwives to be found

On the streets of David's town

In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed

Shafts of moonlight on his face

But the baby in her womb

He was the maker of the moon

He was the author of the faith

That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain

It was a cold sky above

But for the girl on the ground in the dark

Every beat of her beautiful heart

It was a labor of love

For little Mary full of grace

With the tears upon her face

It was a labor of love