By Jennifer Browning
The Project Medishare SUV sped and bumped along the uneven dirt road in the Central Plateau. In the back of the vehicle, Chanté lies uncomfortably in labor. The Medishare staff is taking the young woman so that she may give birth at the nearest hospital in Hinche-one hour away. Suddenly, a staff member yells out to the driver to stop. Their patient isn’t going to be able to wait until Hinche, Chanté is ready to give birth right now.
Haiti, and particularly in the Central Plateau, the high rate of maternal mortality remains a challenge. Haiti’s statistics regarding maternal mortality are among the highest in the Caribbean: 1 out of every 37 female deaths is linked to a high-risk pregnancy.
In a recent Associate Press article, Johnathan Katz reports that Haiti’s poor suffers by far the highest maternal mortality ratio in the Western Hemisphere. According to a recent UNICEF report, out of 100,000 live births, 670 Haitian women died of pregnancy-related causes in 2006.
In 2006 the Haitian Ministry of Health reported that nationally 76 to 80 percent of deliveries take place in homes and nationally a professional or a skilled midwife attends 60 percent of deliveries. In the Central Department only 13 percent of deliveries are performed in a hospital, clinic or maternity ward, while only 47 percent of deliveries are performed by a professional or a skilled birth attendant in a patient’s home.
Project Medishare doctors wrap a newborn in a blanket after delivering a baby in an SUV on the way to the hospital in Hinche. Photo by Dr. Malou Phanord.
Through Project Medishare’s community health program each woman in Haiti’s Central Plateau receives an opportunity to have at least one prenatal visit before giving birth. Prenatal check-ups with a health professional are steadily increasing, with 85 percent coverage of pregnant women, in contrast to 67.7 percent coverage in 1995.
Project Medishare is working toward decreasing the maternal mortality rate in Haiti’s Central Plateau with a new maternity ward in Marmont. Thanks to the Greig Family construction for the the Maternal Health Center broke ground in January.
Currently there is only one hospital with an obstetrician available to serve five towns in the upper Central Plateau: Hinche, Thomonde, Maissade, Thomassique, Cerca LaSource, and Cerca Carvajal. While the clinic in Marmont does offer maternal services such as family planning along with prenatal and postnatal visits, the clinic does not have the facilities for deliveries. All high-risk pregnancies are referred to the hospital in Hinche or Thomonde where there is a small delivery room with a trained midwife.
Chanté’s situation is a perfect example for the need for a maternity ward in Marmont. While Chanté’s preganancy was not high-risk and Project Medishare’s staff was available to assist in the delivery, many women aren’t as lucky.
Upon its completion, the new Maternal Health Center in Marmont will be open full time with trained staff available and living in the connecting residence. The Maternal Health Center in Marmont will also focus on providing a full package of women’s health services including reproductive health education, family planning, along with HIV/AIDS counseling and testing.
[...] With today marking World Water Day, Project Medishare has taken on the commitment to repairing a broken water cistern in Marmont where currently the new maternity ward is also under construction. [...]
[...] birthing attendants; and upgrade maternity clinics.With the assistance of Project Medishare, a new maternity ward is being built in Marmont as part of the Millenium Village Project and is due for completion in July. Currently there is only one hospital and one obstetrician [...]
[...] Medishare/UM Global Institute team who were visiting the Maternal Health Center site this morning. The Maternal Health Center in Marmont broke ground at the end of January and is currently under [...]
[...] The UM medical students will spend the week in Haiti working with Project Medishare’s Haitian staff by working with the mobile clinic team throughout Haiti’s Central Plateau. Keep checking Project Medishare’s blog to find updates regarding their trip. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Growing Connections: Earth Boxes experiment proving success in HaitiBeyond Traditional Borders team sees Project Medishare’s community health…Childbirth remains a dangerous challenge for women [...]
[...] is working toward decreasing the maternal mortality rate in Haiti’s Central Plateau with our new Maternal Health Center which broke ground at the end of January. Thanks to the Greig Family, who completely funded the [...]
[...] is working toward decreasing the maternal mortality rate in Haiti’s Central Plateau with the new Maternal Health Center in Marmont which broke ground at the end of January. Thanks to the Greig Family, who completely [...]
[...] thanks to the The Greig Family, construction had already begun on the center in response to the maternal health situation in Haiti. The Global Institute at the University of Miami is working with Project Medishare to monitor and [...]
[...] am happy to say that more is being is being done. On one of our last days we stopped by a construction site of the new Maternal Health Center which will give women in the nearby area access to prenatal care. The two buildings seem to be a [...]
Why does it seem that all the big money that is going into Haiti is going into the central plateau? I wouldn’t mind but about the only place that I have to send my critical patients (I am an RN that has practiced medicine here in Haiti for 23 years) To General Hospital which is often a death sentence, or tell mothers of peds to Go to St. Damian, not to tell them that they have been seen in another clinic since that everyone practing medicine here wants the glory of “finding” their own critically ill. I’m sorry, I do not have the skills to do surgeries other than the occasional stitches but I do have enough experiences to be able to know when a patient I see is on a slippery slope to a coffin. How can we get these patients into a hospital where they will be cared for in a reputable manner without having to do a dancing act?
Dear Mr. Ackerman:
Thank you for your comment and commitment to the people of Haiti. Project Medishare has been working in Haiti since 1994, and was invited by the community of Thomonde in the Central Department in 1995 to assist them with health care. As you know, the need in every department in Haiti is much more than any of us can do alone. But we focus on the communities that the Haitian government has authorized us to work in. According to the EMMUS IV report from 2006 the Central Department has the highest infant mortality rate, child malnutrition and fertility rate. One of the priorities of the Ministry of Health is focused on decreasing infant & maternal mortality, therefore our goal is to help the MOH achieve these goals.
Our focus is on the community and providing access to quality medical care and development services like agriculture, education, potable water & sanitation, etc. We have 95 Haitian staff from the communities we serve including doctors, nurses, health agents, agronomists, and administrative staff.
We do conduct surgeries (pediatric neurosurgery, plastic & general) and training of Haitian residents at the government hospital (Hopital LaPaix) on Delmas 33 several times a year. You may contact Gabriele Denis, gaby@projectmedishare.org, if you have patients that are in need of these types of surgeries.
Thank you, again, for your comments and your obvious commitment to Haiti.
Regards,
Ellen Powers, MPH
Executive Director
Project Medishare