To provide a maternity and paediatric service for some of northern Haiti's poorest families, providing many with their first ever access to medical care in pregnancy and childbirth. Our 44 bed facility with 2 delivery suites, operating theatre for birthing emergencies, paediatric ward and NICU, will support many life saving interventions as well as training and equipping midwives, supporting local health centres and providing information about pregnancy and early child development.
Haiti has the highest rate of infant, under five and maternal mortality in the western hemisphere. Due to the extreme poverty, 63% of births take place at home without any medical support in Haiti. Most women would like to deliver in a hospital, but cost, education, accessibility and transport prohibit many from being able to do so. We've established a system which can help overcome all of these barriers, ensuring women and children have the access to health care they deserve.
This facility identifies high risk women and children in the community through an extensive network of 80 Traditional Birth Attendants, 12 Community Health Agents, and monthly Mobile Health Units which travel to the most marginalised areas. We seek to ensure those who need referring can access the excellent care available at the hospital, which provides 24/7 inpatient and outpatient support. The facility is equipped to tackle some of the most critical issues in order to reduce mortality.
Overcoming the key barriers to health care will ensure women and children can access the medical support they deserve. This can have a significant impact on reducing mortality rates, which in turn has a big impact on reducing poverty. When a mother dies unnecessarily in child birth, her other children's future is placed in significant risk, as women are the centre post of families and key to the education, health and general well being of all her family.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
