The Birth House

Dora travels with Miss B. to help deliver Mabel Thorpe’s baby, although she is nervous that the baby will die like Darcy did. Miss B. is quick to send Mr. Porter Thorpe and the two children away so that she and Dora can focus on the birth. Dora notices that Mabel “makes motherhood look easy” despite her heavy pregnancy (62). Miss B. attribute this to Mabel’s “faith in goodness” (62).

Two of Mabel’s friends, Bertine Tupper and Sadie Loomer, come over to assist and bring handmade gifts for the new baby. These three women are all “women from away,” meaning that they were not born and raised in Scots Bay (63). This shared experience makes them close as sisters. Together, they help Mabel make “the groaning cake, or kimbly, [which] brings good fortune to the new child” (63). Traditionally, the mother makes this cake during labor, just before delivery.

Sadie and Bertine help distract Mabel from her labor pains with gossip until she is ready to deliver. Miss B. positions Dora to help deliver the baby, but during delivery, Dora sees the baby turning blue, like Darcy. The umbilical cord is wrapped around its neck.