This is how to end preventable maternal and infant deaths in rural Haiti

Midwives For Ha i t iwww.midwivesforhaiti.org

http://www.midwivesforhaiti.org

http://www.midwivesforhaiti.org

The Issue:

Maternal and InfantMortality

Midwives For Haiti © 2014

Part of the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is...

• the poorest country

• the most dangerous country to give birth

• the most dangerous country to be an infant or child



Most maternal deaths are caused by

eclampsia, sepsis,and postpartum

hemorrhage.Midwives For Haiti © 2014

In other words,most of these deaths

are preventable.


“It’s not biology that kills them so much as neglect.” -Nicholas D. Kristof


Children who lose their mothers are 10 times

more likely to die prematurely than those

who have not. -UNFPA


The single most critical intervention to ensure safe motherhood is skilled

attendance at all births. -UNFPA


• Much of Haiti is rural and underdeveloped

• Lack of infrastructure and access to medical facilities or emergency transportation.

• Lack of resources and workforce attrition

Only 25% of births are attended by a skilled provider because:


2. Increase access to prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care.

1. Increase number of Skilled Birth Attendants.

(We do both.)

The Solution:


We deliver high impact health interventions to fight maternal and

infant mortality in Haiti.


Our projects are working.

We’ve trained 71 Skilled Birth Attendants. Or, 1/3 of the midwives working in Haiti.

Last year, our graduates provided over 60,000 prenatal exams and attended over 12,000 births throughout the country.

These numbers grow exponentially each year.

But, we need your help.


Our Mobile Prenatal Clinic is at risk. We need investors.


Mobile Prenatal Clinic:

20 remote villages. Over 500 pregnant women monthly. More than 6,000 patient care visits a year. Over 40 emergency transports annually.

(Without the Mobile Prenatal Clinic, most of these women won’t receive any maternal care.)


Our midwives travel up to 2 1/2 hours to communities that have no medical facilities or trained

healthcare providers.

They set up in whatever building is available, or sometimes at the

back of the Jeep.

Then our midwives get to work.Midwives For Haiti © 2014

We employ six Mobile Clinic midwives, all graduates of our training program.


•Provide education

•Perform a prenatal or postpartum exam

•Screen for HIV and syphilis

•Test and treat for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and malaria

•Provide vitamins and iron supplements

•Test and treat for hypertension, vaginal infections, and intestinal worms

Our Midwives Always:


Many women walk up to two hours

each way in high temperatures

to receive care. Midwives For Haiti © 2014


The exam table is often the back of our Jeep.

Mothers are measured to determine gestational age.


We collect blood samples and test on site. Data is collected at each clinic.


We test and treat for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as gonorrhea and chlamydia.

If left untreated, these infections risk the lives of both mother and baby.


We see up to 90 women at a single clinic.



“Before Midwives for Haiti, no one cared about us.”

-mother at Mobile Clinic

Meet Duvilia. This will be her first

child. She walks 1 1/2 hours each way to

receive prenatal care. She wants to know that

she and her baby are healthy and safe.


Dorzelia received prenatal care for the first time at Mobile Clinic. This is her

seventh child.


This is Phitane. She received an emergency transport by our Mobile Clinic midwives to receive

medication to prevent eclampsia (seizures). She then delivered a healthy daughter.


“If women don’t have access to Mobile Clinic, more women will die in childbirth.”

-Philomène, Mobile Clinic Midwife


Mobile Prenatal Clinic is our most expensive project.

At $10 each, providing 6,000 prenatal and postpartum care visits annually in the

remotest regions of Haiti costs $60,000.

But, if we don’t do this who will?


Help us give rural mothers and infants

their best chance at life.

Donate today. www.midwivesforhaiti.org/

mobile-clinic

Midwives For Haiti is a 501(c)(3) charity. All donations are tax deductible. Midwives For Haiti © 2014

http://www.midwivesforhaiti.org/mobileclinic




Health & Medicine

This is how to end preventable maternal and infant deaths in rural Haiti