Blog Smog

So this isn't a Sorry, I haven't posted in a while (there really is a blog about that).

Our last post was in August. There is no Part 4 to the series, I mean I have a google doc. titled "Humanized Birth" that is a bunch of ramblings, but I haven't posted it and I'm not sure I will. 

Yeah, our blog has slowly collapsed like a flan in a cupboard (to plagiarizing a certain comedian). We will probably still post here from time to time, but neither one of us feels up to continue right now.


So I just just want to let you know (whoever you are), don't expect to find much here these days. 

I have felt like I owe it to people (my friends and family and supporters and churches and just EVERYONE ON EARTH) to keep this up because we are missionaries.

 Ridiculous.  It comes down to the truth that I am saved by faith, not by works. I really feel like keeping our blog up became this proof that we are these people that we're not.  To be really honest, it feels like an obligation to prove that we are worthy of all of the money that people give us. 

Truth is:
We are missionaries because God wants us to do this. It isn't our perfect blog that gets us supporters, it's Him. We are so blessed with supporters that are REALLY REALLY our friends. THANK YOU, GUYS! 

So I am done with guilt. I know that those who love us and support us will contact us to keep us accountable. We have people here in Brazil for that, too. I know that any "well done good and faithful servant" received from the Lord at the end of our lives won't be because of an immaculate well-written blog post, but rather because we love Him and we want to glorify Him with all that He has called us to do. And right now, we don't feel like he has called us to blog.  

So, while we we might post here from time to time as the Lord leads, but for now this is just sort of become extra work that isn't fruitful right now in our lives. 


THE END :)

We are on Facebook: Jeff         Lindsay
Twitter (kinda): liquidaficadora
Snapchat (kinda): liquidaficadora
Instagram: liquidaficadora (notice a trend?)
Skype: jeffroyt (we have a US number too)
EMAIL: jeffroyturner@gmail.com /lgcturner@gmail.com
WhatsApp (email us for that info)
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Birth in Northeast Brazil: Part 3

Birthing in Brazil Series

Part 3: Obstetric violence in NE Brazil

Everywhere you turn here in  the rural Northeast of Brazil you face obstetric violence in one form or another. You usually have three options when it comes to labor and birth, and their are serious problems with all three.  Here are your main options as a mother in Brazil:

1) Birth in a public hospital. Here is what you have to look forward to: Rundown facilities with a lack of supplies. You may have to share your room, and your labor space. There may be no bed for you. No bed for the baby. No basic care items for the baby. The doctor may not be in town and you may have to rush to another hospital in another town. Your companion may be forced to wait elsewhere. If a doctor is around he (or she) will most likely use verbal abuse to keep you quiet and complacent. If you get a bed, you may be forced to lay down on the bed for the whole labor and even be strapped or tied down. Episiotomies are common. So is the Kristeller maneuver. So is the doctor sitting on your belly forcing the baby down. If you need an emergency c-section it may be not started quickly enough to save the baby and the mother.  There is a great likelihood that you will not receive a lifesaving procedure such as pitocin after birth or a blood transfusion for hemorrhaging (a common complication after the Kristeller maneuver, episiotomies, and c-sections).  You will not get the attention needed for a pregnant woman in labor and your likelihood of morbidity and mortality is high.  

2) Birth in a private hospital, with a private doctor. Here is what you have to look forward to: A beautiful well equipped pristine setting with a 75-100% c-section rate.  When you meet with your doctor before birth she will do her best to convince you that a c-section is best. If you don’t agree she will coerce you, rationalize with you, and even lie to you to get you to do a c-section, or just refuse to deliver your baby. At best, if you try to birth normally in a private hospital without a supportive doctor you will be ridiculed by the staff, ignored, stared at, called crazy by the other mothers and medical professionals, and in the end you will most likely have a c-section.  At worst, you will experience the Kristeller maneuver, an episiotomy, unnecessary pitocin, overdoses of pain medication, and an epidural (whether you want it/need it or not). Or you can just give in and schedule your c-section, where there is a high likelihood that your baby will be born premature and you will have other complications due to an unnecessary major abdominal surgery. Regardless of if you have a c-section or normal birth, your baby will be taken away to the nursery, “made presentable,”  and given formula making nursing difficult, if not impossible.

3) Often misunderstood or unheard of, humanized birth. I’ll explain this more in another part of our series.

A little more about obstetric violence (or obstetric abuse): “Obstetric violence takes two forms: physical, manifested in invasive practices, unnecessary use of medicines and disregard for the time required or eventualities of labor; and psychological, meaning dehumanizing or rude treatment and discrimination or humiliation when a woman seeks advice or medical attention”  (Obstetric Violence - gire.org).

The types of obstetric violence that occur in NE brazil include:

During pregnancy:

• Denying prenatal services to a woman or imposes difficulties in treatment
• Health officials neglecting to provide high quality treatment for a pregnant woman;
• A cesarean section is scheduled without recommendation based on scientific evidence. This can include social coercion and intimidation by the medical professional (ex. no one has babies vaginally anymore, it’s barbaric, it will ruin your sex life, you can’t handle the pain), medical coercion from a medical professional (you are too small, you are too big, your baby is too big, your baby is too small, ), and even complete lies (doctors lie about babies being breach, the umbilical cord is too short, the umbilical cord is too long, the cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck and the baby will suffocate [nuchal cord], the baby is overdue [at 40 wks], the baby does not have enough amniotic fluid, the baby has too much amniotic fluid, hemorrhoids, the baby doesn’t want to come, a part of the baby’s body is stuck in the mother’s ribs [seriously..]).

During labor:

• The hospital will turn away a woman in labor.
• There is a lack of or withheld essential life-saving and important care equipment.
• A woman in labor is left alone and not allowed her partner or other companion.
• Procedures on the woman’s body that interfere in the process of childbirth, cause pain or physical injury (be that to be slight or grave). Examples: administering serum with oxytocin in order to accelerate the childbirth (for to the doctor’s convenience, with no medical necessity), successive manual examinations by different people on the woman’s cervix (introducing higher likelihood of infection); no food provided for the woman in labour; episiotomy (surgical incision used to enlarge the vaginal opening); immobilization (arms and legs), etc.;  the Kristeller maneuver (applying pressure to get the baby to move down the birth canal), sitting on the mother’s belling and attempting to push the baby down the birth canal
• Verbal abuse during labor (shouting at the woman to keep quiet, telling her that if she yells too loud she’ll harm her baby, saying overly sexualized comments such as “you didn’t complain when you were making the baby, so stop complaining now”)
• Performance of cesarean surgery without clinical indication or the woman’s consent
• Denying or delaying a cesarean surgery when medically necessary

Directly after birth:

• Delay or prevention of the woman’s contact with the baby just after the birth
• 
  

  Preventing or hampering of breastfeeding (preventing it during the first hour after the child’s birth, separating the baby from the mother, leaving the baby in the nursery where baby bottles and pacifiers are used, etc.)
• Denying or not providing life-saving procedures when necessary (such as blood transfusions, intravenous liquids, pitocin to shrink the uterus back down when needed, suturing as needed)
• Overuse of medical interventions (prolonged intravenous liquids, over-dosage of pitocin, overdose or incorrect dosage of pain and other medications)

 Sometimes the abuse is “minor” but often it is extreme and leads to poor maternal and infant outcomes after birth.

In part 4 of the series, I will talk about humanized birth and what a difference it can make!


-Lindsay

"Obstetric Violence: do you know what it is? - Defensoria." 2014. 26 Aug. 2015 <http://www.defensoria.sp.gov.br/dpesp/repositorio/41/VIOLENCIA.OBSTETRICA_ingles.pdf>

"Obstetric violence | May 28." 2015. 26 Aug. 2015 <http://www.may28.org/obstetric-violence/>

Birthing in (Northeast) Brazil: Part 2, Julia's Story

Birthing in Brazil Series

Part 2: Julia’s Story

I want to tell a little story today. When people read the statistics about the increasing c-section rate in Brazil, they usually ask me, why? Is it really that women are scared of childbirth?  Is it that doctors really don’t do normal birth?  It just doesn’t make sense to people from our culture why someone would choose major abdominal surgery over a “natural process.”

Well, to help you understand a bit better let me tell you the story of Julia.*

36 years ago, Julia’s mother gave birth to Julia via a planned c-section. Julia’s mother lived in the rural interior of Brazil. Her town had a public hospital, but it was not guaranteed there would be a doctor or medical supplies necessary. Julia’s father was a fairly successful local business owner and loved his wife dearly. He knew many women died in labor and even lost his mother after the birth of his sister. Instead of relying on the local (often uneducated) midwives he decided to take his wife to an obstetrician. The obstetrician was from out of town and could not guarantee he would be around when the time came for her to give birth. He was young and recently had been trained to do birth by c-section. He personally saw lives saved from the procedure, especially when compared to unattended births or births by untrained midwives. He recommended scheduling a cesarean birth for when he would be in town  to guarantee the safety of the mother and the baby.  

Julia was born healthy and happy. Three years later her brother joined her in the world in the same manner.

Julia’s mother accredited her children’s survival, and her own, to childbirth by c-section. She saw many of her friends and relatives die in childbirth or shortly after. During the late 60’s to early 80’s the infant mortality rate within the first year was 200-300 infant deaths per 100,000 live births. ("BRAZIL: No More Angel Babies on the Alto | Center for Latin ..." 2013. 4 Aug. 2015 <http://clas.berkeley.edu/research/brazil-no-more-angel-babies-alto>) While many of those deaths were due to malnutrition and illness within the first year, folk superstitions often blamed the violence of childbirth.  For Julia’s mother the c-section was a miracle! She tells her friends and family and those who can afford it start to have planned c-sections also.

36 years later, Julia is even more well off than her mother and father. With time Julia marries and gets pregnant. All of her friends and family have had scheduled c-sections. Her mother had a c-section. Her doctor recommends a scheduled c-section. Normal childbirth doesn’t even seem like an option. She doesn't know anyone in her social circle that has done it. It seems primitive and risky. Even though she lives close to a “good public hospital,” she has heard horror stories of violence in labor and maternal and infant deaths at that hospital.  Even if she mentions normal birth, her doctor laughs it off and tells her that she won’t be able to handle the pain of childbirth, he says you are too petite for normal labor and your baby is already very large. She wants the best for her baby so at her first prenatal appointment she schedules the date of her baby's birth.

Does Julia really have any other good options?  Why would she even consider vaginal birth as a healthy option?

*Julia is a character made up from three stories of three different friends here in Brazil, but her story (and her mother’s) is very common and is very similar to the story of most of the women who schedule a c-section in their first doctor’s appointment.

I hope this story helps outsiders to see a little more about why women here in the interior would choose c-sections. Next week I'll get into more about obstetric violence in the public (and private) sector!

-Lindsay

Birthing in (Northeast) Brazil

I started writing this series about three years ago. Never has it seemed like the right time to post it, until now. This series explains some of what is happening in Brazil. It is why Mercia and I want to go to these classes. I know that I need more education, more training, more prayer, more partnerships, more seeking God’s will, and more patience. Well, anyway, this is where we are.

Background, Introduction, Part 1

Have you ever had so much to say that you just didn’t know where to start?  Yeah, I don’t often have that problem either, but recently I do. So, I’m going to do a little series on my thoughts about birth.

Specifically, the state of obstetric care in Northeast Brazil.

I know a lot of you have seen me blab about this over the past three years or so on facebook. We don’t really blog much, so I know to suddenly start going on and on about birth is a little weird, but well, that’s just where I am right now. Obviously this is an issue near to my heart.

A little disclaimer before we get into it. How a woman chooses to birth or what happens to her in the course of childbirth is a very personal experience. Ladies, no matter how you gave birth you did your best to have the best for your child and yourself in your unique situation. I am not writing this series to insult c-section moms or champion natural birth.  We all love and care for our children and try to make the best decisions.

While I am writing this from a perspective that elective c-sections are not ideal; I know that other well researched women have come to other conclusions. I respect that. The purpose of this series is to provide an understanding of birth in Brazil from the perspective of a foreigner. I am going to talk a lot about the risks of elective c-sections, but ultimately I love and respect my sisters who make other decisions.  I will also talk about obstetric violence. Ultimately, it is most important that I am showing the love of Christ to those around me. I hope that this clear in what I share.

This isn’t really a series for everyone, like for example, if you’re not interested in talking about birth!

Hey, if you’re still here, I have a few articles to get you started understanding birth in Brazil.

1. http://www.ravishly.com/2015/04/09/whats-behind-dangerous-c-section-epidemic-brazil
2. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/04/why-most-brazilian-women-get-c-sections/360589/  
3. http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-05-14/brazil-half-all-mothers-have-c-sections-whether-they-want-it-or-not
4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ricki-lake/birth-in-brazil_b_1495875.html
5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/16/c-section-rates_n_5161162.html  
6. http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/153097/brazil-fights-epidemic-of-cesarean-births
7. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/11342757/Sex-after-giving-birth-A-caesarean-could-ruin-your-sex-life.html  

This one is great to just know the facts about maternal mortality in my state.

http://www.rhm-elsevier.com/article/S0968-8080(07)30326-1/fulltext

Part 2 coming soon…

-Lindsay

PS A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE DONATED TO OUR GOFUNDME CAMPAIGN SO FAR!! LET'S KEEP GOING! gofundme.com/LnMgo

Lindsay and Mercia go...fundme + BONUS Birthing in Brazil Because it's my Birthday!

(Lindsay here)



First of all,
did you see that serious alliteration in the title?

Yeah, that's reason enough to talk about birth on your birthday.



Anyway, You might have noticed that I have been spamming social media with my pleas for help with a special gofundme project! I am super excited (really, very, very excited!) to be taking an amazing class with a dear friend, Mercia (Pastor Flavio's wife), but we can't do it without your help! This short video has some info!







About the course: CEFAPP EDUCADORAS PERINATAL (in Portuguese)
About the gofundme thing: Lindsay and Mercia go to class!


BONUS (Birthing in Brazil Because it's my Birthday!)

During the next few weeks, I will be doing a series here with my take on Birthing in (Northeast) Brazil. I have been sitting on some stuff I have written for... um, years. It finally seems like a good time to talk about things that are deep down and precious to my heart.



 It's fascinating stuff, if you're into that sort of thing. If not, feel free to ignore the next 4-5 posts. Seriously. We aren't going to turn this blog into some crazy (awesome) birth blog. If I need to do that I'll start a new blog. Ha!



So, I know that this is more posts than we do most YEARS, but since this topic is so dear to my heart, Jeff and I feel like this is a better platform for discussion than Facebook, Twitter, etc.



Finally,

Check out that awesome graphic our friend, Diana Deli made me for this (with like one day's notice!!). She is a new missionary through World Renewal Brazil! She teaches English and art at the school, saves our lives making amazing DIY decorations for school/church events, and is an amazing person with whom to get coffee! She is back home in Hungary right now raising funds to come back! Support her, too! 

by Lindsay Turner (not Jeff, like it says below)

Some really spectacular advice for the young people of the world

I have some really spectacular advice for the young people of the world.

Missionaries, wanderlusters, and the like.

Don’t travel! Don’t go!

DON’T

DO 

IT!

Everything will change.

You will start to care about people in a new place. And then life will be terrible.

Yup, TERRIBLE

FOREVER

because you will never be able to “uncare” for those people again.

So, no big deal, you say. 

Oh no, no, no, deary. You see, if you leave you will miss them. A LOT. Especially if you don’t know when you will go back.

Okay, so stay.

Nope.

That won’t do either.

Because people are everywhere.

You have people you love back home. Or in your passport country. Or whatever you call it. Family, friends. So that won’t do either.

And the days will come when your best friend gets married. Then, your sister has a baby. And your brother’s wife has a baby. Where? You know, there. Not here.

But then your new friends get married. Here. Not there.

And babies. And weddings. And parties. And funerals. And birthdays. And Christmas. AND EVERY DAY. Here and there and here and there.

But yes, the big events are hard. 

But the worst part. The most difficult days?

The “everydays.” 

All of the days that you aren't there for the little things. Not living life with ALL of the ones you love.

And then one day your friend will have a baby. Here. And a friend will die. There.

And you know that it's too late. You have people here and you have people there. And you will never live life with ALL the ones you love in one place.

So, don’t go, sweetie. Don’t go. *

*This is based on a conversation I had with a good friend, Emily Taylor, who used to work in the mission field with us a while ago. It’s meant to be tongue in cheek, you know. It’s been an emotional day! I think I felt all the emotions today. I love where God has taken us and don’t regret being here, of course. But my friends, count well the cost, Lord knows it’s not easy to try to live life in two places.

Merry Christmas!

Hello Friends!

Merry Christmas! 2014 was a busy, busy year. We had so much transition that it’s felt like our 2014 was really 15 months long! So we’ll start way back 15 months ago, back in November 2013.  

Here was our 2014:  

November 2013 Stefan was born November 4, 2013 (at 9 lbs!), arriving two weeks after Lindsay’s EDD and two weeks before we hopped on a plane to the US.  While most people rest at home after having a baby, we ran around Recife in a car with no air conditioning during an early Brazilian summer heatwave. We had a lot of documents to get together before traveling with our newborn and three year old.  Should you have a baby and then jump on an airplane for international travel? No, no you should not, but we did it and lived to tell the tale. It was all worth it when we settled in to be pampered by family and friends back in the US for the holidays!

December 2013 Then, it got cold: ridiculously, absurdly, cold. Remember last year’s winter? Of course you do. Well, that was Jeff’s first winter in five years. Yup, we came back to Indiana for furlough during the worst winter EVER. We joked that he was making up for five missed winters all at once. Being stuck indoors really helped us to slow down and rest (ha!).  We had so much fun running around making ourselves exhausted visiting family and friends. We were able to visit most of our supporters/friends around Indianapolis (well… after it warmed up, at least by springtime) and worship again with the Mosaic and Brookville Road Community Church.  

January 2014 It’s hard for us to believe that we hadn’t spent much time in the US since 2008. While back in the US we had goals of rest, reflection, and renewal.  We had some time for personal development, too. Jeff started studying for a Cloud computing certification, while Lindsay looked forward to a springtime Community Health Evangelism training. We also benefited from counseling with a close pastor friend of Jeff’s sister. We didn’t have an official debriefing, so it was much needed and very helpful.  

February 2014 We first lived with Jeff’s parents for a few months and then Jeff’s sister and her family. It was cramped living, but such a blessing to be able to be a part of our family’s daily lives. We had so much fun living on the East Side with Jeff’s parents and within 5 minutes drive of some close friends. Then, we had just as much fun living with Jeff’s sister in Fountain Square where we enjoyed being within walking distance to a lot of fun restaurants and venues. The best part was that we were still about 10 minutes from Lindsay’s folks at either location!  

March 2014 Winter dragged on, but we found plenty to do.  Melody really enjoyed playing in the snow, playing with cousins, and developed a typical toddler addiction to Ranch dip!

We took a road trip with Lindsay’s parents to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Melody loved spending time with Grammy and Papa! Stefan was already sitting up, rolling over, and watching his sister have lots of fun by this point! He was quick to want to keep up with her!

April 2014 A major highlight of our furlough was the prayer and vision meeting we had with family and supporters. We know there is so much we could be doing in Brazil, but nothing we could do really will make a difference if it’s not God’s will for us! God really impressed that idea upon us. So much of what we were studying at the different churches we visited (and in our personal devotional times) focused on waiting on God, listening to what He wants us to do, and then make plans.  We had some struggles with burn out over the years because we hadn’t listened to God before proceeding with our own great ideas. For our meeting we wrote lists of what we could do for God in Brazil: everything we have ever done and everything we wanted to be doing. Then we prayed and talked with those who care about us. It helped us to put everything in perspective and seek God’s will!  It was such a blessing.

May 2014 We got back to Brazil on May 1st, the same day the ministry had their 20 year celebration. It was an incredible emotional and spiritual high day for Jeff. For Lindsay back at home with the kids, it was probably the worst most trying day as she tried to re-adjusted back to Brazil life. It was a good reminder that we need to be centered on God, pray against Satan’s attacks, and always put family first, right behind God. We were also reminded that we have to constantly ask God what he wants us to be doing, one time of prayer (no matter who it is with) doesn’t cut it. He has taught us that lesson over and over again this year.

June 2014 We got to switch roles with family and host all of Jeff’s family at our house and at his parent’s beach house as we enjoyed the World Cup together!  It was such a fun, busy, crowded month! We got to experience being a busy household of nine in our little house for the month and we loved it!  It was such a fun time to experience the world in our backyard (literally one of the World Cup stadiums is 20 minutes away).  

July-August 2014 The first few months back are really a blur after family went back to the US.  We focused on settling back in and figuring out what life is like as a family of four. In these two months we also received two missions teams and two interns.  We have gone through a lot of spiritual ups and downs, but God is good and is at work.

September 2014 Lindsay mostly focused on life at home these early months back, while Jeff got back into the grove of helping at school, ministry, and figuring out how his role in the ministry changed.  Lindsay decided (after much prayer) to continue to stay home for the rest of this year instead of going back to school full time. She did pitch in where needed for training of the new teachers. Another big change this year in ministry is that we decided to not to go back to worshiping at the church in Lagoa de Iteanga regularly. This was a difficult choice, we have been there for the last five years, but because Jeff needed to be more free to visit all of the churches in the ministry (who also meet on Sunday nights) we decided to spend more time worshipping at the Acacias Community Church that meets on Sunday mornings at the Alcance.

October 2014 The Brandywine Community Church group’s mission trip came along around the same time as a group from the Community Church in Shelbyville, Indiana. Shelbyville focused on Living Stones Ministries, while Brandywine worked with the church in Lagoa de Itaenga. They trained the kids in Lagoa on how to lead worship and play as a band. Then they had a worship conference open to all of the churches. At the end of the time Lagoa had formed a band of youth and even played a song with the Brandywine band. The kids are excited about their training to this day! It was amazing to see since Lagoa had been our home church for so long.

November 2014 Jeff and two other pastors from down here were able to do the same training that Lindsay did in the US (Community Health Evangelism, CHE) at the beginning of the month. And since they have been very excited about where God is leading to incorporate CHE principles into short-term team training, special projects, and other aspects of church planting.  A lot of our ministry focus since this has been focusing on how we can improve the short-term mission trip training. We have been working with a great team to prepare training videos that incorporate those CHE principles. If you are involved in missions we highly recommend you check out chenetwork.org !

December and...

In other areas of ministry...

The ministry is growing much:  A new church plant on a street named Desterro in between Pauldalho and Carpina has started, the International School has seen more people come to Christ this year, and the Glory Sports Complex construction has started at the Alcance.

This was also our least active year on our blog! We have enjoyed keeping up with friends on Facebook more than ever this year and so time spent updating the blog was shifted more to time spent interacting on Facebook. Although we are not shutting down our blog, we will probably keep up with this trend of spending more time on Facebook instead of the blog. If we hear from you, our supporters and friends, that you would like to hear from us on the blog, we will of course step up our game on the blog again!

Merry Christmas to all! We look forward to hearing about your 2014!

Other random pictures below.