Traditional Birth Attendants in Haiti

We have applied for a Grant for Change--it is a contest in part, and we need help to qualify by collecting votes.
Please click on the link below and help us create a program for women in Haiti! With gratitude,
aerlyn

More about our project.
Healthy Births begin the promise of Human Design carrying the potential of positive change for all.

Blueprint:
After volunteering as midwifery relief-workers in Haiti, we know there is more work to be done.
In Haiti, less than 25% of births are attended by a skilled practitioner and the infant mortality rate is as high as 29%; many of these deaths are preventable.
By designing an educational program for Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and expecting mothers these outcomes can be improved.
Program design will be focused on nutrition, breastfeeding, umbilical cord care, neonatal resuscitation, and the creation of basic midwifery tool-kits to support duties of TBAs.
This grant will help set the foundation to create a sustainable, long-term education and childbirth/health project.

Construct:
While volunteering in Haiti, we were deeply moved by the work happening in the Joseph Community (JC). They are a community with few resources and a strong vision. Following the January earthquake, they welcomed 2,500 refugees.
Dedicated to their own sustainability, their goals include building a school, community garden, and improved birth success stories.
By providing prenatal care, nutritional support, and a training program for community TBA's, we will begin to facilitate JC's aspirations for better childbirth experiences and healthier outcomes.

Materials:
Specifically, this grant would help cover training materials, project documentation, basic prenatal supplies, and the creation of birth-kits for the TBAs including: tools to reduce infection rate, newborn resuscitation masks, and hand-held scales to assess newborns' birth-weight.

Execution:
In addition to supporting the general health/well-being of babies/new mothers, research shows that low-cost educational programs for TBA's are greatly effective in reducing stillbirths and increasing positive childbirth outcomes. Birth success stories also increase family esteem and community morale.

Outcome:
With this Design we birth, sustain and pass forward the knowledge and experience of one culture to another, one woman to another; in the aftermath of the earthquake, birth celebrates the hope a future generation will bring.