She delivered five women who had their hymen still intact after they became pregnant - they did not have any penile penetration. The ages include a 15-year-old, two 16-year-olds, a 17-year-old and one 23-year-old.

She enjoyed her career, but she is saddened by the fact that midwifery as an aspect of the nursing profession is not given the recognition that it deserves.

"Jamaica hardly gives recognition to midwives and we are the main nation builders. There are no short cuts to our jobs yet we are seen as glorified nannies and technical supporters," she told Outlook with some amount of disappointment.

But in a special service in her honour organised by the Sabbath School of the Adventist Church recently, she was recognised for her valued contribution over the years.

ISLANDWIDE DELIVERIES

Nurse Pearcy has delivered babies in a number of districts including Beacon Hill, Bath, Johnson Mountain, Barking Lodge and Port Morant. And if the mothers remember nothing else about her, they probably remember the fact that among the things she travelled with was a little stove. This is one of those small cylinder-like stoves which she used to demonstrate to the mothers, how they should prepare porridge and also to give them warm milk if they needed it. So she became known as the 'Nurse with the stove'.

She said she enjoyed this type of nursing as she became a part of the family, giving advice and sharing her love for the little ones. She made it her duty to make the child's first school uniform and gave a slate or an exercise book for school.

It was during this early period that she delivered her first baby born with an "anterior face presentation".

"This was a situation where the baby was born with the face upwards with the lips showing out first. In my prenatal examination of the patient, I discovered that the baby would be in a anterior face presentation so I reported this observation to the authorities at the hospital, and I was advised to get a witness for this birth. That night I could not sleep, so when I got the call I hastened with the witness. On arrival, I prepared the mother. The baby arrived at 5:00 a.m. just as predicted and logged it."

Nurse Pearcy recalls for Outlook another unforgettable experience working at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kingston, working continuously across several shifts.

"In exhaustion, I went to bed No.18 to attend to a mother age 19 years, weighing 274 pounds. As I prepared her for delivery, suddenly she kicked me on to the wall, the commotion causing nurses and doctors to rush in. Nevertheless, I continued helping her and the baby was born weighing nine pounds three ounces. Later I was told that a doctor heard the commotion and he ran to get the nurses stating, 'The patient is going to kill the little nurse'." She laughed heartily.

Nurse Pearcy worked for 14 years at the Kiwanis Maternity Centre on Industrial Terrace, and did a short stint at the Princess Margaret Hospital in St. Thomas, where she experienced the first loss of a baby to stillbirth.

VIRGIN BIRTHS

Several brows might have been raised at reading that Nurse Pearcy delivered women whose hymens were still intact after they became pregnant. She has had to explain that situation before.

"Some years ago, some men called me in a bar and asked me to teach them some facts of life.

LISTEN AND LEARN

"I told them that pregnancy can take place without the male penetrating the female. It was seen as a joke. The bartender listening, said 'listen and learn'. I noticed that a particular young man was very serious. At the end of the heated discourse, the young man made arrangement to see me. He came and disclosed that his girlfriend became pregnant but he did not believe her because he did not actually penetrate her. But (he believed) that from what I said, it could be possible that she could become pregnant so he felt guilty, and he eventually owned the child."

This humble, pleasant 70-year-old veteran retired in 1995 and now does sessions at the Issac Barrant Clinic twice weekly. She is also involved in community work with the senior citizens.

Here is a woman who has worked and played a significant role in health care, going to the hills and valleys at different hours of the day and night within the parish of St. Thomas. This is apart from the hospitals where she has worked.