As Weymouth resident Esther Nganga sat holding her beautiful 11-week old son, Jabari, she laughed recalling her initial skepticism of having a midwife birthing experience. “Growing up in Kenya, I always heard tales of midwives—tales of women laboring and giving birth without the option for pain intervention,” Esther said.

Your life is put into perspective when all that’s standing between you and death is the level of precision and collaboration amongst your healthcare providers. “They knew what they were doing and were all very confident,” Beverly Akins said. “I can’t say enough for South Shore Hospital’s EMT’s, the...

We can’t plan for everything, but we can help manage life’s unknowns by talking openly about what matters to us and what we’d want most if we became seriously ill.