Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
When Patria's third child is stillborn, she loses her faith in God. Faith had always come naturally to her, ever since she was a little girl. She says of that time:
After I lost the baby, I felt a strange vacancy. I was an empty house with a sign in front, Se Vende, For Sale. Any vagrant thought could take me. (1.4.66)
It's as though, now that her womb is empty of her child, her heart is empty of faith too.
On the pilgrimage to Higüey, though, her faith is reawakened. It takes the form of another pregnancy:
My faith stirred. It kicked and somersaulted in my belly, coming alive. (1.4.125)
Patria had been so devastated by the loss of her child that this newfound feeling of faith is like an unborn baby in her uterus… and this is a great comfort to her. Instead of giving birth to a child, she gives birth to a new kind of faith.