Katie Edelstein, CNM, MSN

Katie Edelstein joined our practice in 2010. She graduated from Emory University where she received her Masters of Nursing. She is also a graduate of Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelors degree in Nursing and The University of San Diego with a Bachelors degree in Sociology. Before beginning her nursing career, she served for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay. She speaks proficient Spanish and loves having conversations in Spanish. Some of her other passions include ballet and modern dancing, volunteering at church, and traveling the world whenever possible.

Midwifery in Haiti

Katie traveled to to Haiti with a group in late January to work on a project plan for starting a maternity center at the clinic in Terra Rouge, Haiti

On a dirt road in Terrier Rouge, Haiti, a handful of little children are running around playing ball in the dirt. Some have clothes on, some don’t, most don’t have shoes, but all seem to be unconcerned with anything but playing. To an outsider, the first thing that one notices is all of the little children have skinny arms and legs from being undernourished, bellies swollen with worms from drinking non-potable water and eating unsanitary food, and red, brittle hair from being severely protein deficient. It is a wonder that these little kids have survived past their first birthday, and a powerful reminder that so many don’t make it to an age where they have the luxury of being able to play ball with their friends. Currently, Haiti has the highest maternal and infant mortality rate in the western hemisphere.

Birth in Terrier Rouge usually happens at home by one of the ten skilled birth attendants in town. Most women never see a healthcare professional their entire pregnancy, and just go to the birth attendant’s home when she is in labor. If a complication develops, the woman is then put on the back of a motorcycle or in the back of a truck, and driving 45 minutes to the nearest hospital in Fort Liberty. Fort Liberty is not always staffed with a doctor; so if they arrive and find no one to help, they have to driven another 90 minutes to Cap-Haitian in search of medical attention. The sad fact is that by the time they find medical personal, it is often too late.

One might say that it is a hopeless situation, but a lot can be learned from Afghanistan and it’s promotion of midwives. Afghanistan has invested in midwifery school and the training midwives in local communities which led to a significant reduction in their maternal mortality rate. At the moment, there is no midwifery school in Haiti; the one midwifery school that did exist in Port-au-Prince was destroyed in the earthquake, and has yet to be rebuilt. The training of midwives in Haiti is currently being done by NGOs like Midwives for Haiti. Midwives for Haiti is based in Hinche, Haiti in the central plateau region where they have a yearlong school curriculum for midwives, and graduate about 10 Haitian midwives per year. It is a small step in making a difference in health of mothers and babies in Haiti, and hopefully, it will spread to other places in Haiti like Terrier Rouge.

For more information, please see Midwifery: A Smart Investment for Haiti By Isobel Coleman