Indonesian mother ‘grateful’ after emergency birth during 7.7 quake

As the earth shook around her, tearing apart homes, buildings, and bridges in eastern Indonesia, Maria Florida Nogo Kelen was giving birth to her daughter.

The 39-year-old went in for emergency surgery as a 7.7 earthquake and a series of aftershocks ravaged the East Nusa Tenggara province, the country’s worst disaster since 2022, fighting off the tremors and her declining health to deliver her fourth child.

“During the surgery, I was not afraid,” Maria, who lives in the region of Nagekeo, close to the quake’s epicentre, said. “I had to be healthy for my kids.”

Her delivery came two months ahead of schedule due to a complicated pregnancy that posed risks for both Maria and her child, forcing doctors to use flashlights to perform the surgery during intermittent power outages as the hospital building shook mercilessly. Her doctors said Maria could have suffered from a fatal seizure had they delayed the birth.

“We had no choice,” said Maria’s obstetrician, Yona Sara Pardede. “As humans, we were afraid … the surgery was difficult as she was a small baby. I ask God, please help us. We don’t even have a ventilator.”

Finally, her daughter, Gempita, was born, named after the Indonesian word for earthquake: ‘Gempa.’

Fear of aftershocks

Saturday’s disaster, the country’s deadliest since a 2022 quake killed hundreds in West Java, has so far killed 68 people, an official with Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said on Monday in a press conference.

Many medical professionals across Indonesia’s southernmost province treated people with injuries outside in tents as the quake damaged hundreds of hospitals and homes.

On Monday, rescuers scoured the area for people feared trapped under rubble and were sending aid via planes, authorities said.

Residents sheltered outside in evacuation tents with several saying they needed clean water and food. Most were afraid to return to their homes for fear of aftershocks.

Born at just 1.3 kilograms (2.87 lbs) during aftershocks, Gempita remained stable in an incubator placed on a patch of grass in a tent outdoors as the sun beat down on Nagekeo.

Maria, who suffered a haemorrhage after her birth, said she was grateful to still be alive.

“I was very grateful for the doctors; even when the room had collapsed, they did not abandon us,” she said.