Amanda Perkins article in MIDIRS
January 6, 2010 News Comments OffAmanda Perkins, CNEP class 63 recently wrote an article for MIDIRS.
Click HERE to read the article.
FSMFN Featured in PULSE Magazine…
January 6, 2010 Alumni News Comments OffDamara Jenkins, CNEP class 48, is featured in the Winter edition of Pulse Magazine.
Click HERE to read her thoughts on the Frontier experience!
Final Guatemala Post from Kathryn
November 30, 2009 Guatemala Comments OffOur time at Hospitalito was spent in the clinics seeing patients, in the small emergency room, and being available for labor and births. Heather attended a few births, Betty evaluated patients in the ED, and we saw clinic patients with pregnancy, diabetes, parasites, gastritis, childhood diarrhea, and a phenomenon specific to developing countries: COPD in women at a young age.
We met a young doctor from the states who has been coming to this community since his medical school days, and has started a small nonprofit organization to address the COPD issues by replacing kitchen fires with stoves. Most women spend 2-4 hours every morning and again every afternoon working over a wood fire on the floors Read the rest…
Guatemala Update - Hospitalito Atitlan
November 30, 2009 Guatemala Comments OffDuring our three week stay in the southern highlands of Guatemala in the town of Santiago Atitlan, Betty, Kathryn, and I spent many hours at a tiny hospital on the lake with a big history and an even bigger future.
The village of Santiago is home to 43,000 Tz’utujil residents, one of the largest Mayan indigenous communities in Central America. Despite the size of the community, there has historically been an absence of emergency, obstetrical, and surgical medical care, with the nearest emergency care center being nearly two hours away. Hospitalito Atitlan was opened in Read the rest…
Gautemala Update from Heather - Capitacion at Centro de Salud, Santiago Atitlan
November 30, 2009 Guatemala Comments OffNovember 4, 2009
When I was preparing for our trip to Guatemala, I learned that many (roughly 60% of births nationwide and over 90% in some rural areas) Guatemalan women choose to give birth at home with traditional Mayan birth attendants (TBA’s), called comadronas.
I also learned that Guatemala has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Latin America. The USAID estimates that there are about 153 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births. Women living in more rural areas of the country have even higher rates, estimated at 221/100,000. In comparison, the average maternal mortality rate for Latin America is 94 per 100 000.
Guatemala Week 2 Post from Betty
November 17, 2009 Guatemala Comments Off
This is a picture of a woman washing her clothes in the river. It is hard to get used to the vast contrasts. Such as women washing clothes this way and at the same time carrying a cell phone everywhere they go! Also, the rivers are often polluted by waste disposal from bottles and packages and cans of food and other products that are now available in even the most remote areas.
Update for November 11 from Mkiyah
November 16, 2009 Guatemala Comments OffUpdate from Mkiyah
Being the first of the group to return home to the U.S, I have had some time to reflect on my time spent in Guatemala. I had a friend ask me, “so what did you accomplish while you were there?” I had to think long and hard about my answer. My dear friend expected that I had made a huge impact in my two weeks abroad. I felt that I had barely made a dent. There was so much more that I wanted to be able to do, but not for my sake. How many times in the U.S. would I encounter treating malnutrition or respiratory issues from spending time cooking over a wood burning stove with no chimney?
Update for November 11 from Guatemala
November 16, 2009 Guatemala Comments OffPost from Kathryn
November 11: A photo journal of week 1 with Vamos Adelante, in the villages of Zapote and Ceylan south of Antigua.
Mkiyah helps with a prenatal clinic assembled especially for us in their humble clinic in Zapote
We host a workshop for the promotoras (village health promoters) on the basics of prenatal care; note doppler donated by Trish Voss, and FSMFN tape measures!)
The Science of Healing
November 4, 2009 FSMFN News No Comments
I have previewed this show, “The Science of Healing” and it is fantastic. It should ring true to all midwives who work to create a stress free birthing environment for women and spend the time needed to reduce the stress in the lives of the women they serve as well as in their own lives.
If you are on the list below, be sure to view it and contact PBS to thank them for showing it so they will realize the importance of sharing this information.
If you are not on the list, contact your local PBS and ask to them to notify you when it is put on their schedule for showing in your area.
Tape the segments. Have your families and friends view it.
Renard Cohen is a film maker and the husband of one of Frontier’s new graduates from CNEP. He came to see me some time ago to talk about his hope/intention to do a film on midwifery. I met him a week ago at his wife’s graduation and he shared the DVD with me.
- Kitty Ernst
Update from Guatemala
November 4, 2009 Guatemala Comments OffPost from Kathryn
October 23:
Heather McLaughlin CNEP student came to Guatemala for a week of language school before beginning her time at Hospitalito (see www.Hospitalitoatitlan.org).