Run a Maternity and Neonatal Unit in Haiti

Funding and maintaining specialist hospital equiment is one of our biggest challenges in Haiti. The harsh environment  and sometimes unstable power supply can mean sensitive equipment like incubators have a limited lifespan and need regular repairs and replacement.

Thankfully, the hospital has recently received four new infant incubators, which is a welcome upgrade to their NICU facilities. These are vital tools in caring for premature and critically sick babies, providing a controlled environment where they can be closely monitored and protected from outside infection. 

These new incubators are not a model the staff have previously used so they have all been receiving training on how to safely and effectively use them.

One recent story shows how important every element of our maternity and NICU service is, from the personnel in the community to the specialist NICU equipment like these new incubators.

One of our community-based Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) recently attended a birth where the baby quickly suffered breathing difficulties. The TBA arranged rapid transport to our NICU unit where the staff quickly determined the baby's lungs and liver were under developed. Treatment including CPAP breathing support and phototherapy thankfully saw the baby improve over a few days and safely returned home with Mum. Without the trained TBA, the NICU capacity to receive the baby, and the specialist knowledge and equipment to treat him, the result could have been a tragic one.

Thank you for supporting this ongoing project.

During November 2022, the maternity unit at HCBH, our partner hospital in Haiti, was one of the busiest on record. 184 babies were born - 91 by natural delivery and 93 by caesarean section. On average, 144 babies are born a month.

This huge increase in numbers was due, in part, to HCBH being one of the few facilities that was able to provide constant, reliable care throughout 2022. Accessing life-saving maternal and infant care services continues to be difficult for Haitians but we remain passionate about supporting mothers and babies in 2023 and beyond. 

Mother's like Carline, who had to travel 35km through road blocks and protests with her baby, who was born 9 weeks premature. By the time she arrived, her baby had severe hypothermia and was in respiratory distress. She was placed on the CPAP machine  and received antibiotics and a full blood transfusion.

Thanks to the care of the incredible HCBH team, both Carline and her baby were discharged and returned home after 28 days.

Your ongoing support has helped HHA to bring light into some of the darkest of places and a resolute, powerful hope to some of the most desperate situations. Thank you.

2022 has been a year of mixed emotions for HHA.  On the one hand it’s been a time of celebration as we marked our 15 year anniversary. On the other hand, the regions we work in have faced unimaginable hardships this year, with Haiti being on the edge of a humanitarian catastrophe.  

As we write this report, Haiti is facing some of its darkest days, with ongoing gang violence and subsequent fuel shortages leaving the country struggling for survival.  The crisis has forced many health facilities to reduce services or close, which could mean as many as 28,000 newborns are denied essential healthcare over the coming months. 

Our partner hospital, HCBH, is currently one of the only hospitals that has been able to remain fully functional in northern Haiti and is busier than ever. In the first week of October, HCBH saw 137 patients. In the last week of October, it was nearly 400. 

Amongst those patients, was Sallia and her mother. Her mother was suffering from pre-eclampsia - a potentially life-threatening condition for mothers in Haiti and Sallia was born prematurely via c-section. 

The midwives in the maternity unit noticed she had developed a fever so she was quickly transferred to the Neonatal Care Unit where she received antibiotics and loving care whilst her mother recovered in maternity. 

Thanks to the dedicated care of this incredible medical team, baby Sallia and her mother both survived and we were able to go home. The NICU and maternity staff deal with emergencies like this every day but rely on your donations to continue this life-saving work.

On average, 120 babies are born every month at HCBH, many by emergency caesarean section, supporting some of the most high risk births. Your donations continue help ensure mothers and their babies receive the best possible care at this critical moment. 

Despite the current challenges in Haiti, we remain passionate about supporting mothers and babies this Christmas and beyond.

We’d like to express our deep thanks for all your support on the journey so far and hope that you will continue to support us as we continue this live saving work. 

On behalf of the Hope Health Action team around the world, thank you for your ongoing support of our work, including for our Neonatal Care Unit, which recently celebrated it's 10th Anniversary.

Reaching this milestone, particularly in Haiti which struggles with the highest rate of infant mortality in the western hemisphere, is nothing short of incredible and could only be achieved with the support our donors like you. Thank you. 

Earlier this year, our team of long-term volunteers in Haiti were joined by Hannah, a paediatric Nurse from the UK who is volunteering with us for 6 months. She has spent the majority of her time supporting the NICU team and shared this story;

"This baby boy was born at HCBH via c-section. He was premature at just 32 weeks. He had a low birth weight of 4lb (1.85kg) He received care for just over 2 weeks after suffering respiratory distress at birth and being transferred straight to the NICU to receive oxygen therapy and be cared for in an incubator to help maintain his temperature. He received vitamin K, IV fluids and antibiotics. His breathing improved, he was weaned off oxygen and began breathing by himself. The Nurses also fed him through a nasogastric tube (a special tube that carries food and medicine to the stomach through the nose) but he soon progressed to successful bottle feeding!" 

Alongside this little one, the NICU has treated babies with high bilirubin levels (jaundice), fever and poor feeding and a number born prematurely who struggled with breathing immediately after birth. We are happy to report that the majority of these infants have recovered and have since been discharged to return home. 

Over the years, the NICU at our partner hospital has become one of Northern Haiti's leading facilities, caring for babies with a range of needs from moderate to severe. The unit has become a victim of it's own success and regularly cares for over 20 babies, despite only having capacity for 8. 

As mentioned in our last report, our goal is to expand this unit to provide high quality, life-saving care to more babies and we are making steady progress towards this. We are now actively fundraising towards this project and hope that you will join us in our journey to dramatically improve care for new-borns in northern Haiti and help save the lives of thousands of babies in the years to come.

For more details on this project, please visit;

www.globalgiving.org/projects/new-neonatal-care-unit

Thank you once again for your ongoing support. Lives are saved everyday thanks to your support. 

Links:

• New Neonatal Care Unit

The Neonatal Intensive Care unit at our partner hospital in Haiti has been incredibly busy in the last few months, taking in additional patients from other health facilities that had to reduce services or close due to political unrest and fuel shortages. One day, there were 21 babies in a ward designed for 8, including 4 sets of twins.

One mother told us; "I am very happy to have given birth to my twins at HCBH. I was properly treated and the nurses made me feel at home and that's the kind of insurance I need to show that me and my babies are protected."

We're very happy to say these little ones recovered from their conditions, including jaundice and were discharged after a few days.

668 babies were admitted to the Neonatal Care Unit (NICU) at our partner hospital between July 2020 and June 2021. At times, the incredible team of Doctors and Nurses were treating over 20 babies in a unit designed for 8. This significantly impacts patient care.

Haiti struggles with the highest rate of infant mortality in the western hemisphere. For a long time, we've wanted to expand this unit to provide high quality, life-saving care to more babies and we are still working hard to achieve this goal. We aim to start actively fundraising towards this project in 2022 and hope that you will join us in our journey to dramatically improve care for new-borns in northern Haiti and help save the lives of thousands of babies in the years to come.

We thank you so much for your continued support of our maternity and paediatric care at our hospital. Lives are saved every day thanks to your support.