Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Haiti

Jude’s mother is just 18 years old, and went into labor about 50 miles from our hospital. Tragically, she required an emergency C-Section, which was unavailable in her community. Jude’s mother wasn’t initially referred to our facility, in fact it was 18 hours after diagnosis that a physician realized she was in a life-threatening position, and she was quickly ambulanced to our hospital. Thanks to the swift response of our team, Jude’s mother received an immediate C-section upon arrival, thankfully saving her and Jude. Sadly, whilst the pediatric team was able to revive Jude and admit her into our intensive care unit, the lifelong damage caused by this unjust 18 hour wait for care, placed her life in grave danger.

Currently, next to Jude in our Neonatal Unit is another baby with a brighter outlook. Wilnese was referred to us from a town over an hour away, born severely prematurely. It’s rare in Haiti for babies so premature to survive, but thanks to our team’s efforts, she is thriving. We are now searching for her parents, who abandoned her, in the belief that a child so small in Haiti would never survive. Both of these cases highlight the critical and often heartbreaking challenges of Haiti, but also the urgent importance of the services at our unit and our incredible staff, who are saving lives every day.