Was there someone else there?

Did Joseph cut the cord? 

Did Mary do it herself?

Or was someone else there?

A woman who has been forgotten in our contemporary nativities.

A midwife,

an older local woman,

who had given birth herself,

and spent her life supporting the younger woman of Bethlehem,

through the pain, mess and anxiety of their labours.

We're happy to add lobsters, donkeys and innkeepers to our reimagining of Christmas.

What about the midwife?

The one who gently supported God from the womb to the air. 

Who severed his connection to Mary's oxygenated blood stream 

and ensured he took his first breath. 

Who handed him to Mary and provided the strips of cloth for her to wrap him in. 

Who sat with Mary and Jesus as he latched on for the first time,

and adviced Mary on how to get him in just the right position. 

Who cleared up the blood and encouraged the shepherds to not hang about too long. 

They had a story to tell anyway.