Midwives for Haiti- one of many wonderful non-profits that are helping women and babies.
Midwives for Haiti
MidwifeSupplies Wish List: Wish List
Contact: midwivesforhaiti.org
Midwives for Haiti
8008 Gardenwood Terrace
Richmond, VA 23227
804-389-0447
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Midwives for Haiti is a non-profit organization with goals of increasing access to skilled birth attendants during the childbearing year for Haitian women. Currently over 75% of Haitian women get no skilled care during their pregnancy and birth, causing the highest maternal mortality rate in the Western hemisphere. This is done by training rural nurses in life-saving midwifery skills and by placing the graduates in remote areas where access to health care is limited.
Midwives for Haiti currently has two full-time Haitian teachers. They are aided by volunteer midwives from the U.S. and Canada at least one week each month. We are in our third year of operation and a class of twelve women make up Class III. There are no paid employees in the U.S. The program director and the board of advisors are all volunteers.
Our training site is a rural, understaffed and undersupplied hospital in central Haiti. This is a hospital where the patients have to bring their own sheets, food, and no pain meds are available except for surgeries. The hospital has provided a classroom for Midwives for Haiti and has welcomed the assistance of the teachers and students in the labor and delivery area. Prenatal care is done at two clinics in the town of Hinche.
Midwives for Haiti has the blessing of the Ministry of Health of Central Haiti and the graduates receive diplomas signed by a representative from the MOH. Partnership with other NGO’s, the Catholic diocese of Hinche, and other faith organizations has been important in developing mutual goals.
Recently Midwives for Haiti has begun sending trained midwives into remote villages where women have never received prenatal care. It is hoped that we can expand our reach to more villages each year.
Supplies that are needed by each trained midwife include textbooks (we have translated “A Book for Midwives” into Creole), scissors, needle holders, forceps, Kelly clamps, fetoscopes, headlamps, bags to carry supplies, sutures, sterile and non-sterile gloves, and ambu-bags with infant masks. Gestational wheels, tape measures, notebooks, pens, and K-Y jelly tubes are also helpful.
Donations are used to pay for supplies and for the medications, vitamins, IV supplies, anti-malarials, and worm meds that are needed for both prenatal care and for saving lives during obstetrical emergencies.
To purchase supplies directly for this organization – you can visit their wish list here.
Be sure to enter this organizations address into the “Ship To” portion at check out.
Address to enter at checkout for Ship To:
Midwives for Haiti
8008 Gardenwood Terrace
Richmond, VA 23227