Midwives aim to deliver better maternity care in Haiti

THREE midwives based at the Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick have volunteered their services to help improve maternity services in Haiti, which has one of the highest death rates for women giving birth in the western hemisphere.
Midwives For Haiti educates Haitian women in providing prenatal care and skilled birth assistance.
Róisín Browne qualified as a midwife in 1991 in England before returning home to work in St Munchin’s in 2000. The Ennis woman, who now lives in Shannon, raised over €2,000 for the charity before she went to work for a week in Haiti last February. With one in 17 women dying in childbirth in Haiti, Róisín found her first trip very fulfilling. She is delighted that two of her colleagues, martina Keogh and Mary Bolger, have decided to come with her for a second trip in September.
She recalled working in what was effectively an old stable converted into a hospital and noted pregnant women only had what they brought with them to the facility before they gave birth.
“The charity was set up by a midwife in the United States in 2004. Most of the midwives are from the USA or Canada and I believe I was the first Irish midwife to go to Haiti last February.
“I will be training three student midwives for two weeks. There are no neonatal services and 76% of the women in Haiti are delivered by a non-qualified person. There are very few doctors in the hospital so they need all the help they can get,” she said.
Róisín has already raised €1,500 and the trio hope to bring some light medical equipment with them. They have organised a number of fundraising activities including bag packing in Killaloe this Friday and Saturday, a church-gate collection in Ballina, Killaloe in September and a charity event in conjunction with the Killaloe Farmers’ Market. Plans are also underway for a bring-and-buy and cake sale to raise funds from staff in St Munchin’s.
Martina Keogh, Ballina, qualified as a midwife in Guys Maternity Hospital in London where she spent five years, worked in Melbourne for eight years and in 1998, she moved to Limerick and subsequently took up a position in St Munchin’s.
Her father, Joe, is originally from Ballina where she has been living with her husband, Pat Clarke and their four children for the last four years.
Martina only heard about Róisín’s trip in December but was unable to go in February. Having built up 25 years experience as a midwife, Martina decided to go if another trip was organised as she felt she had a lot to offer.
She believes the three midwives can get a lot of work done in a week and their trip has also put the plight of Haitian women firmly in the minds of their colleagues in St Munchin’s.
“Everyone is talking about it. You don’t become a midwife without being passionate about the job. We have received a lot of goodwill, donations and support for our fundraising efforts.
“Despite spending some time in the Middle East, I don’t think anything will prepare you for the poverty in Haiti. I expect some of the conditions will be quite shocking but we will just get on with the job at hand,” she said.
Mary Bolger, Ballina, trained in St Vincent’s Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, before qualifying as a midwife in 1988. Her diverse experience includes a stint in Abu Dhabi, eight years in Drogheda and four in Dublin before moving to Ballina 10 years ago.
Married to Peter, she has three children. Having worked in the Middle East, Mary was always anxious to travel again but found it hard because of family commitments. Part of her work in St Munchin’s involves teaching student midwives, so she feels the Haiti trip presents an ideal training challenge in a very poor country. She said women in Haiti should be able to have a realistic expectation their baby can be delivered safely and wants to play her part in bringing services there up to World Health Organisation standards.
In Haiti, 15% of newborns have low birth weight and 25% of the children suffer from chronic malnutrition. Anyone who wants to make donations can lodge money to the Bank of Ireland Caherdavin account number 64731849, sort code 900762.