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Challenges

Maternal and infant mortality rates in Haiti are the highest in the western hemisphere and among the highest in the world. One in every 16 women in Haiti will die during childbirth (about 200 times the risk of mothers in the United States). Most women have known a relative or neighbor who has died in childbirth. One in every 12 infants will die before their first birthday. The period of greatest risk is immediately following birth.  

From a medical perspective, maternal deaths are due to infections, obstructed labor, placenta previa, and eclampsia.  Neonatal deaths are due to birth asphyxia, low birth weight, and infections.  In most cases, these conditions are preventable or treatable.  The more fundamental and challenging problem is extreme poverty, a condition which erects barriers to healthcare access.

Because mothers lack access to basic health services, deliveries take place at home where support for birth is sparse: a two roomed house with a dirt floor, no electricity, no water, and no trained birth attendant.  Our challenge is offer an alternative, so that mothers can access the care they desire.