by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer MMM                          U.S.A.                         21.08.2024

Christmas was soon approaching, and the completion of my six months medical internship was in sight. This was to be my first celebration of Christmas in Drogheda at the Motherhouse and the surrounding joy was palpable. I never saw so many cribs placed in every available nook and cranny. They were delightful to behold. The hospital, as I now remember, seemed to be quiet without too many emergencies, all lending itself to the quiet entrance of our Infant Savior at Midnight Mass. I had never celebrated Christmas with so many MMMs before and it was a real treat for me.

A few days later, on Holy Innocents Day, a party was held in the library, now part of the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. What I remember to be the thrill of the party was to see one of the popular nursing students dressed in an MMM HABIT. There was great exclamation and then a few minutes later Mother Mary entered the room, and all eyes fell on her. She sang her favorite song for us “All on a Summer’s Day.” I have tried to look up the song on Google but I did not see it. I found it so entrancing that the memory, melody, and some words of the song have etched themselves on my heart. “I kissed her once. I kissed her twice and then I stole away. You may think this funny; but she had no money. All on a summer’s day.”

I had grown close to the medical patients with chronic diseases who were long term admissions to the hospital or came for follow up visits to the outpatient’s department. One man in particular was a tall, good looking, well-built farmer with lymphoma. At that time there was a limited source of chemotherapy, and I could see him gradually decline. Somehow, I kept track on him, and he died a few months later. May God rest his soul.

Yes, the first of January was the date of handing over and taking up a new field of medicine. I was assigned to work under Doctor Connolly and Doctor O’Brien as an intern. I found being with the miracle of new life exhilarating. The women delivered their babies with true valor, and I loved witnessing their happiness when it was over, and they were holding their cherished babies in their arms. Sometimes the outcome was not as joyful and then we would join their pain. The midwives did an excellent job with helping the women deliver their babies and alerting the Doctors if an abnormality arose.

Overall, I loved the experience of watching the women attend their antenatal care and watch them carefully for any abnormality in their pregnancy. Dr. Connolly taught us well that pregnancy should be a joyful time of expectation in a mother’s life, and we should do all we could to ensure her baby and herself were healthy. At that particular time some women had anemia, and the flying squad would be called to bring them to the Maternity if they showed any sign of bleeding or other disorders. Sr Briege Breslin and I were called many a night to help a woman who had a miscarriage.

I loved to examine the newborns to look for a heart murmur or congenital hip dislocation. Thank God these were quite rare. One of the biggest problems at that time was delivering a baby whose mother was Rhesus Negative. The serum to correct this had not been invented yet and the babies needed exchange transfusions. Thank God we had a very well-run neonatal unit on the ground floor of the Maternity hospital which was located where Aras Mhuire Nursing Home is now. It was the original hospital before the IMTH was built and opened in 1956. Each ward had a special MMM Sister, or lay nurse/midwife assigned. I loved working with these dedicated women who had so many years of experience and taught me very much in their quiet and efficient way of handling difficult situations.