Chapter 6 - THE HOSPITAL BAG
My hospital bag arrived with Aaron.
The actual one.
Barbara’s comment bothered me.
“That isn’t the right bag.”
Police searched the house only under consent initially.
Richard allowed them to look for immediate medical items.
Later, a warrant covered specific evidence.
They found another bag in Barbara’s bedroom.
Same brand.
Same color.
Inside:
Towels.
Chux pads.
Gloves.
A handheld fetal Doppler.
Herbal tinctures.
Scissors in sterile packaging.
Cord clamps.
A printed home-birth checklist.
My name at the top.
Melody Hale.
Estimated gestation:
34–35 weeks.
Twin pregnancy.
Risk notes:
Twin B unstable lie.
The line beneath:
Hospital transfer only if maternal collapse, heavy hemorrhage, or absent fetal tones after delivery.
I stared when Sarah showed me a photograph.
“What?”
I had never seen it.
“Who wrote this?”
“We’re finding out.”
There was also a name.
LINDA PIERCE.
Birth attendant.
Not midwife.
That distinction mattered.
Colorado regulates midwifery.
Linda was not licensed as a midwife.
She had once worked as a doula.
A doula supports labor.
May you like
A doula does not independently manage high-risk twin delivery.
Yet someone had prepared a kit.
