Expand Maternal Healthcare in Northern Haiti

C2C has exciting news to share since our last report: thanks to the continued support of our amazing GlobalGiving community, we were able to expand our Maternal Health Program to our newest clinic, in Galifète! This marks a huge milestone for C2C and a major improvement for health services in this community. C2C’s team has been hard at work promoting this new service, through live radio sessions, promotional banners, and community meetings with local leaders and youth to raise awareness about our offerings.

Although it’s important to expand the reach of our services by offering the Maternal Health Program in every C2C clinic, it’s just as critical to ensure the quality and sustainability of these services across our network. One way we’ve done this is through capacity building. Since our last report, we evaluated six nurse practitioners who were trained to perform obstetric ultrasound, and they achieved excellent results, averaging over 85% on the evaluation survey. We also developed a plan to train two maternal health nurses who are not yet familiar with ultrasound so that they can develop the skills they need to assess patients. 

We’re proud of the results we’ve achieved since our last report:

• 1,154 first prenatal visits 
• 438 first prenatal visits in first trimester 
• 386 fourth prenatal visits 
• 1,099 obstetrical ultrasounds performed 
• 141 postnatal consultations
• 84 hospital births

Generating demand for our Maternal Health Program through awareness-raising activities and education is always top of mind. We do this through many different strategies, including:

• Community education on the need for immediate care starting in the first weeks of pregnancy.
• Preventive and follow-up phone calls to ensure continuity of care.
• Distribution of special coupons to progressively increase attendance by pregnant and breastfeeding women.
• Implementation of mother’s clubs for women in our Maternal Health Program, which provide education on pregnancy, childbirth, and the importance of facility-based delivery.
• Health education sessions and continuous screening of educational videos in clinic waiting rooms on maternal health, family planning, and local foods that strengthen maternal immunity.
• Ongoing promotion of the benefits of delivering in a health facility and receiving postpartum care from a qualified professional.
• Distribution of postnatal kits for breastfeeding women attending postpartum care.
• Close community follow-up visits for any mother known to have delivered recently (in the past 0–3 days).

Despite ongoing challenges, such as low rates of facility-based deliveries and some follow-up calls being ineffective due to network issues, we are still very hopeful for the future. Our team is always working with our communities to develop innovative solutions to these challenges. For example, to further strengthen prenatal visit attendance, we reached out to 33 traditional birth attendants, or “matrones,” from different communities for potential networking and integration into our Maternal Health Program. In order to improve uptake of prenatal and postnatal care, we focus on behavior change, which takes time. However, C2C is committed to serving our communities for the long term, and we are optimistic that the work we are doing now will improve health outcomes in the years to come – and the consistent support of our GlobalGiving community is what makes this all possible.

Thank you, on behalf of all of our clinical and community health staff in Haiti.

Links:

• Learn more about our ongoing projects on our website

C2C is excited to celebrate a major milestone in our GlobalGiving campaign, “Expand Maternal Healthcare in Northern Haiti.”

Thanks to the support of generous donors like you, we have reached 50% of our $20,000 goal for our Maternal Health Program.

This campaign has raised over $10,000 from nearly 100 individual donations—a powerful reflection of the collective impact that supporters like you can make. Your contributions are helping to ensure that more pregnant women, new mothers, and infants in northern Haiti have access to the high-quality care they deserve. We are sincerely grateful for every dollar you’ve contributed.

Because of your support, C2C has been able to provide the following essential maternal health services across our communities in 2025:

• Conducted community and institutional awareness campaigns on the importance of seeking care during the early weeks of pregnancy

• Continued the promotion of hospital deliveries and postpartum care with qualified professionals

• Implemented preventive and follow-up phone calls to support regular attendance at antenatal consultations

• Conducted close community follow-up visits for women identified as having delivered within the past three days

C2C understands how vital maternal health care is for the communities we serve. Without this program, many women would not have access to the high-quality, affordable care they need during pregnancy and postpartum.

Your support of the “Expand Maternal Healthcare in Northern Haiti” campaign directly strengthens and expands prenatal and postnatal services at our clinics. The following are key highlights from 2025 to date:

Educational Classes

C2C officially launched Mothers Clubs at select clinics. These clubs group women by similar gestational ages and are led by our midwife, who provides sessions on topics such as nutrition, recognizing danger signs during pregnancy, the benefits of family planning, and birth preparation. On average, 25 pregnant women attended four to five sessions, gaining the basic knowledge needed to support healthy pregnancies and plan for postpartum care.

Nurse Training

To enhance care quality, all maternal health nurses completed comprehensive evaluations focused on ultrasound techniques introduced in 2024. This training was made possible through the support of the GlobalGiving community.

Increased Access in Rural Areas

C2C increased promotion of our Maternal Health Program at the rural Savanette clinic, resulting in a 2.7-fold increase in program attendance. During the first quarter of 2025, the clinic served 183 pregnant women, compared to 69 in the same period in 2024.

Follow-Up of Pregnant Women

To encourage the completion of at least four prenatal visits, staff followed up on missed appointments through phone calls and home visits.

Maternal Health Education

Educational sessions and video screenings on maternal health, family planning, and the nutritional value of local foods were provided at our clinics to enhance community knowledge and support.

Engagement with Traditional Birth Attendants

C2C initiated outreach to influential midwives and traditional birth attendants in the communities we serve. These meetings aimed to better understand barriers to facility-based deliveries and explore collaborative, culturally appropriate strategies for behavior change.

Program Impact in 2025 (to date):

• 851 first prenatal visits

• 228 fourth prenatal visits

• 923 ultrasounds performed

• 211 postnatal consultations

Although we continue to face challenges—including global health policy changes that have limited our ability to secure HIV tests for pregnant women, and the ongoing preference for home births—C2C’s Maternal Health Program remains strong. These obstacles underscore the need for sustained support and long-term community engagement.

On behalf of our maternal health team and the families we serve, thank you for your continued commitment to this important work. Your support is helping us build a healthier future for women and children across northern Hait!

Links:

• Learn more about our ongoing projects on our website