by Sr. Sheila Devane, MMM                                        Ireland                                       28.10.2026

When MMM was founded in 1937 safe birth for mothers was at the heart of our vocation and mission and ever since we have worked to ensure this across many countries and cultures.  In May 2024, a campaign called “Safebirth4all” was launched in Dublin to focus on the global prevention of obstetric fistulae.  MMM are partners in the venture and in this way advocating for an aspect of specialist care of mother and child in which we are clearly experienced.

We have some remarkable stories of enabling safe births but let me share one among many of a maternity call that happened over forty years ago in Loolera, Masailand, Tanzania.  The MMM mission there started on Pentecost Sunday, 1984, when a team of two sisters and ten men set out to build a prefabricated house and dispensary in a 4-week schedule.  This followed an extended period of visiting, meeting the people, surveying their needs, and agreeing to offer a community-based primary health care service with their collaboration.

Three sisters were assigned to Loolera and, early on, a maternity emergency call came.  A Masai warrior arrived at dawn one Sunday morning armed with his spears and sweating from running.   With the help of their driver/interpreter, the sisters understood that a mother was in labour for a long time and having difficulty delivering her baby.  They very quickly gathered the delivery kit and two of them set out in the Land Rover with the driver and the Masai warrior.  After about five kilometres, or so, they had to abandon the vehicle as there was no road and a lot of bush and scrub which made it impossible to drive.  The Masai men slashed the undergrowth as they walked quickly through it and when the sisters timidly asked now and again: “how far?” the warrior always answered: “we are very near.”  The sun was now shining and the heat was increasing as the sisters plodded on and on.  One can imagine their thoughts of what might lie ahead: perhaps an obstructed labour, a twin pregnancy, a very young mother, a transverse lie and so many more possibilities?  Although they were told they were extremely near,  they realised that this was relative for a tribe who often walk as much as fifty kms. a day without batting an eyelid.

About midday they heard voices in the distance – what a relief!  They saw a clearance ahead and the Masai bomas, or dwellings, came into view.  They heard children’s voices, saw a few goats scampering about and, on reflection later, didn’t see any women – something which, with more experience, might have been a warning sign.  With gusto they were directed to one of the bomas and beside it there was an open space fenced around with thorn branches.  A few young boys called out “here, here” in the Maa language.  The sister doctor proceeded first through the opening in the hedge to assist the mother.  There she was, tied to a tree with a leather belt, moaning loudly, surrounded by what seemed like about twenty young men who were collectively positioning her upside down and back again – a mother cow!

The stunned sisters were now standing with their driver-interpreter who spoke to the group as the sisters were quickly escorted back through the hedge to a boma where the women folk welcomed them.  What to do?  Here was their first test and had they failed?  The cow was precious and to lose her and her calf would be a huge loss for a tribe where cattle were greatly prized.  They explained to the women that they do maternity care but only of humans.  The women were glad to know this as the men had insisted that their skills would also work for cows! Fortified with food and milk they returned on the long, hot journey to the land rover – their first maternity call of very many was almost over.

There was much to consider and even more than obstetrics to learn and practice among a nomadic tribe in a new mission – all part of the extraordinary MMM adventure!