A(nother) child is born

One of our National staff members proudly announced that he had a new grandchild yesterday, I asked whether it was his first, "Oh no, this daughter alone has 7 other children, already".  I tried to conceal my surprise, since I have read how Somalis have large families, giving little, if any thought to practicalities. In response to my question about her age, and how old had she been when she first gave birth, he said "well she married at 13, and had her firstborn by the time she was 14".  This time I couldn't suppress my surprise... traditionally, the more children a woman has in Somalia, the higher status she will have, so I can only imagine they think starting earlier is better?? I tried hard to conceal my horror and to transform my look of total and absolute shock into a semi pseudo smile with raised eyebrows.  I recognise that we must live in harmony and have respect for diversity in this day in age, but really she was still a child herself, still growing both physically and mentally, still needing the nurturing of her loving parents.  I am finding it difficult to dismiss my negative thoughts. 

He told me that apparently it was an uncomplicated birth, with no need for her to be hospitalized, perhaps someone would come to check there was no infection with her stitches.  I then recalled my discussion with Hanan about the Somali practice called infibulation, which I will not elaborate on here, but guess that was what Omar was referring to.  He told me that after childbirth, the mother and baby stay at home for 40 days, this time is known as afatanbah, and during this period only female relatives and friends are allowed to visit.  Congratulations to Omar and his extensive family!