FOR nearly five decades, 77-year-old Lauretta Bailey has been a beacon of care and commitment in Thompson Town, Clarendon, delivering more than 1,000 babies — often under challenging conditions such as in homes without electricity or proper facilities.

Her tireless service since 1976, as well as her calm demeanour and unwavering faith, have earned her the love and respect of generations of residents, making her not only a respected midwife but also a maternal figure to an entire community.

Though she was initially hesitant about working in Thompson Town, she has no regrets today.

“I admired nursing from when I was small, maybe about seven or eight [years old]. I used to go up with my mother to Spalding and I used to admire the nurses at the Percy Junor Hospital.

“The nurses used to live on the compound and they used to wear their uniform — the hat and some used to have their apron — and they looked very immaculate and so I said this is what I wanted. I had that in my mind from a very early age,” she told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview at the Thompson Town Health Centre.

However, Bailey, who is from St Ann, noted that even though she originally wanted to become a registered nurse, her journey was thwarted when she got pregnant at 16.

She explained that though the pregnancy affected her studies, she later managed to complete her General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level (O’Level) subjects and was eventually given the opportunity to pursue nursing through midwifery — a path she says she has never regretted.

After years of training, Bailey relocated to Thompson Town.

“I didn’t want to come here; I wanted to go to Grantham because water was very bad here. And the first day I came I saw two persons fighting for water and I went back to the health department and I told them, ‘No way am I coming to this area without water,’ ” she said.

However, she stuck to the task, noting that she worked to the best of her ability with what was offered.

While working with the Thompson Town Health Centre she committed to setting up an area at her home to assist with delivering babies — a decision she said revolutionised her relationship with the residents of Thompson Town.

“My home became like a birthing centre,” she said with a warm chuckle.

“Sometimes the women couldn’t even make it past the veranda, so I’d have to deliver the babies right there in a lounge chair. After that, I’d carry them inside and make them comfortable,” Bailey told the Sunday Observer.

Her modest home, located in a section of the community now affectionately dubbed Nurse Corner, became a place of refuge and reassurance for countless mothers in need.

Over the years, she’s delivered babies under the glow of kerosene lamps, on makeshift beds, and in the dead of night — all while treating every patient with dignity. She even shared one instance in which she had to ride a mule to go deliver a baby.

“One Sunday I was at home and a man came all the way from Smithville on a mule,” she said, laughing softly. “He told me his wife was in bad pain and I needed to come now. I told him the only way I’d reach fast enough was if he gave me the mule — and he did! But I waited until I passed the square because I didn’t want people to see me riding [the mule]. After that, it was just me and the mule to Smithville.”

When she got there, the situation was urgent. “The baby was already coming down — I couldn’t even wash my hands or put on gloves. I had to catch the baby just like that,” she said, holding out her hands while reliving the moment as she recounted it for the Sunday Observer.

Bailey repeatedly described her many experiences as a midwife in the community as rewarding, pointing out that it was never about the money.

She explained that while there were challenges, she loved every moment, even turning down opportunities to go to greener pastures.

“When I went to England in 1997 to visit my daughter, they wanted midwives and general chief nurses and she said to me if I’m going to stay and send for the family. I said no way would I leave my community to come to England because money is not everything,” said Bailey.

She stayed because of her love for the environment and the respect she earned from community members over the years.

According to the veteran midwife, the feeling is “more rewarding than anything that money can buy”.

“The people and environment here and how they treat me, how they appreciate me, it made it easy to stay,” Bailey shared.

“I remember during the 1980s, when we had a shortage of soap in Jamaica, it was the returning farm workers who brought me boxes of soap. I had so much [that] I gave some away. That’s just the kind of love people showed me,” she added.

Bailey often paused to gesture toward someone entering or leaving the facility, smiling proudly as she said to the Sunday Observer team: “See a next one a mi babies there.”

She said nothing brings her more joy than watching those she helped bring into the world grow into adults — a reminder, she said, of just how rewarding the journey has been and how deeply rooted her connection to the community has become.

According to Charmaine McLean, a former Thompson Town resident, Bailey is “an angel in human form”.

McLean, now living in Canada, has taken on the role of event coordinator for an upcoming appreciation ceremony in Bailey’s honour, set to take place at Thompson Town High School on May 31.

She specifically recalled Bailey’s support when her father was ill, acknowledging the comfort she brought to her and her family during that difficult time.“In times of illness it is often the kindness and dedication of others that bring light to the darkest days. For our family, that light came in the form of Nurse Lauretta Bailey. When my father Eric Gayle fell ill and needed assistance for three weeks it was Nurse Lauretta who stood by us — not just as a medical professional but as a true angel in human form.

“Every single morning, without fail, she arrived with a calm spirit and a warm heart, administering the vital medications he needed,” McLean said.

But there is more to Bailey than those she has helped medically. Her former colleague Stacy Ann Thomas, also a nurse at Thompson Town Health Centre, remembers being mentored by the veteran widwife in the early 1990s.

“She is an extraordinary worker. She is very active, very loving. She knows every nooks and crannies of the community, and she also served neighbouring communities as well such as Mocho, Darlo, Beckford Kraal, Smithville, Victoria…a lot of other surrounding areas,” said Thomas.

She added that Bailey is a no-nonsense person who wants to see young people do well.

“So for me in the early nineties, I remember coming here and starting here as a National Youth Service worker. She always encouraged me, and we are so happy for her,” said Thomas.

Another voice of gratitude came from Marcia Pennant who, like many others, sees Bailey not just as a midwife but as a friend, neighbour, and community pillar.

In fact, Pennant had a written note ready to share her appreciation for Bailey with the Sunday Observer.

“I had to take the time to write down what I wanted to say because I don’t know where I would be without Nurse Bailey,” she explained.

“Nurse Bailey, you are the one who delivered almost all of my five children and did my antenatal [care]. I can recall when I was having my first child, you literally climbed on to the bed to help me. The second one, there was no electricity where I gave birth so a little kerosene lamp was used without a shade, and you never complained. We know you did your work in some very bad conditions, yet there was no one to say that you ever talked about it to anyone.

“I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for your support throughout my pregnancies — your knowledge and calm demeanour truly made all the difference,” she read.

Bailey’s former supervisor and former public health nurse, Marcia Harris-Lawrence also had high praises for her, describing her as irreplaceable. “She is the kind of nurse they don’t make anymore. She didn’t clock in and out, she gave of herself, all the time, fully.

“Her soil up here is very rich because wherever they’re coming from and they can’t reach May Pen Hospital, she has to have the bed and everything ready to deliver them and a scissors to cut the navel string, so the soil up there is very rich. And I mean, as I said, there’s only one Lauretta Bailey,” expressed Harris-Lawrence.

As Thompson Town prepares to honour Bailey with the formal ceremony at the end of May, those who know her best say it’s long overdue.

Still, Bailey remains modest and almost shy about the attention.

“I’m just thankful,” she said softly. “I’ve been blessed with a long life, a loving community, and the chance to serve. What more can a person ask for?” she asked.

BAILEY…I’ve been blessed with a long life, a loving community, and the chance to serve. What more can a person ask for? (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

Veteran midwife Lauretta Bailey (left) speaking during an interview recently at Thompson Town Health Centre in Clarendon while her former supervisor and friend Marcia Harris-Lawrence looks on. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

One of the residents of Thompson Town Clarendon, Marcia Pennant, journeyed to the community’s health centre recently to share her thoughts on retired nurse, Lauretta Bailey. (Karl Mclarty)

Charmaine McLean, a former resident of Thompson Town, Clarendon, is the event coordinator for an appreciation ceremony to be held on Saturday, May 31 in honour of Nurse Lauretta Bailey, who has given 49 years of service to the community. (Karl Mclarty)