giving voice to pain

Ellie Plumptre encourages us to speak up for our patients, but not in our own strength

Iam practised at asking, ‘Where is the pain?’ in the hope that I can make labour an experience that is an ounce more bearable than it may have been previously. Is it in your back? Would a warm compress help with that? Is it in your pelvis? Would a different position help?

Often, these pains are alleviated very briefly before more pain inevitably ensues elsewhere. But all these small tasks work together to create a picture of caring for someone in labour and helping to push them one inch closer to the end goal. We often speak of how the end goal is worth the pain.

But what if you are 19 years old and your first child was removed, and this child is also likely to be taken away? Or what if ‘Where is the pain?’ is simply not understood and the phone translator cannot be reached? What then?

Proverbs 31:8 (CEB) says: ‘Speak out on behalf of the voiceless and for the rights of all who are vulnerable.’ In these moments, how do we speak on behalf of others and ensure we are giving the very best care that we are able? It is something I am still trying to answer every time I go to work. But one thing I can stand firm on is that I do not go to work alone. The Lord guides me, and his spirit is in me, both at home and at work.

We can take confidence in the fact that our ability to speak out for others is not reliant on our own strength or abilities, but that the Lord is the one who gave us a heart for these people in the first place. The Lord will guide you to those who need to be listened to, those who need to be spoken for, and those who need to be shown a tiny bit of kindness. My hope is that through God’s strength, we can give a very small voice to people’s sometimes overwhelming pain.

Ellie Plumptre is a newly qualified midwife