Thank you to everyone who donated GladRags pads to Haitian women earlier this year!  Midwife Jennifer S. shared the email and photo below with us about her work with Midwives for Haiti.  Jennifer, we applaud your generous spirit!  Thank you for making this possible.

I just got back late last night from Haiti and as you can imagine I had an amazing trip with Midwives for Haiti.  They work mostly out of the central plateau in Hinche.  Midwives for Haiti's main goal is educating midwife haiti.jpgauxillaries (notch above trained birthing assistants) to serve the women of Haiti.  The current class - class 3 - was just getting ready to graduate.  My job was to be a support for them, and to help keep the midwifery services going while they had off preparing for graduation.  There were a lot of mobile prenatal clinics that I attended at first as I got my feet wet.  We saw 45-60 women at each clinic.  For almost half the women, it was their one and only prenatal visit their entire pregnancy.  Most women deliver at home, most unattended (thus the need for the midwives) so the "new mommies" packets I made with many of the supplies you donated were very very much appreciated -- diapers, soap, diaper pins, baby blankets, cloth menstrual pads -- all precious items to these very poor families.  Thank you so much.  We also treated everyone for malaria and worms as well as anemia and passed out lots of prenatal vitamins -- all purchased with funds many of you assisted me with -- I thank you again.

This was my first time in Haiti and it was amazing.  I also ended up doing a lot of public health education about cholera out in the villages and worked a lot of nights in the cholera tents in Hinche.  It got a bit scary with the riots the beginning of this week, but I was working along with JP/HRO and PIH two very well funded and well supported organizations and was kept safe while we continued to provide care.  I also volunteered at the Azili in Hinche -- this is an asylum run by Mother Teresa's nuns -- I was with the very ill children -- starving, TB, etc -- just holding them and helping with feedings -- it was very moving.  I was in L&D, caught a baby, helped with a 16wk loss in the cholera tents and a woman who had an eclamptic seizure, met the midwife grads and many many more experiences.

As you can see I was really busy and now I am exhausted and trying to get back into the swing of things at the birth center, feeling a bit overwhelmed.  I think you all so very much for your love and support and prayers.  Having this opportunity to work in Haiti was something I have always wanted to do and now I will never forget.  I thank you for all the women we helped this last two weeks.