It's a Celebration! From mothers to babies to new chapters.

A new mom and her baby from this week.

I had a lovely time meeting two doctors from England and Ireland this past week. Both were taking a year off before committing to a field and were interested to learn about MFH and our Matròn Outreach Program. They were trying to implement their own program for their local group of matròns in a different part of the country. It was especially nice to have these two ladies meet two other doctors, one American and the other Irish at dinner. You never know who you are going to meet!

Miriette, one of our students and my housemate, doing
a neonatal exam.

I also had an interesting experience with immigration this week. A Haitian-looking woman walked into our compound the other day. She found our manager, but I was soon called to the scene. I was surprised to find that this woman (who was 7 months pregnant) did not speak a word of Haitian Creole. Only Spanish! Thank goodness we had one of our translators who, along with being fluent in English, speaks fluent Spanish. This woman said that she was deported to Haiti because she didn't have a green card even though she had grown up in the Dominican Republic. We gave her some money and helped her on way. I am not sure if she ever made it across the border, but I can only hope that she made it home.

Mirline, one of our preceptors and my housemate, working
with our students.

Aside from the house calls and the daily volunteer and staff needs, I have been doing what I can to help with our Spring Fundraiser, "Thank Your Mother and Save Another". Don't know what to get your mother for Mother's Day? May 12th is coming up fast! Check out http://www.midwivesforhaiti.org/.

Oh, and PLEASE watch this video if you have five minutes. Every Mother Counts was founded by Christy Turlington, a successful model, who wanted to reach out to women and promote maternal health care after a scary birth with one of her own children. The organization just produced this beautiful video (I met the film-crew when they were here filming) found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdzg7bIpK-o.

Our students are getting in their first births in the hospital.

I hope you enjoy it! It is amazing how time has flown by. I will be back in the States in two months. Still much to be done and experience, of course! I have come a long way in many respects since I first arrived last summer in Haiti. I hope to include some reflections in the coming weeks.