International Day of the Midwife 2015

While there are so many lovely midwives that I honor and send love out to today...I have to say that this one, the newest "midwife" in our family, wins my sincere admiration and the BEST midwife award for 2015 in MY book! - Rebecca 

EMMA BARLOW - International Canine Midwife

and leave it to Cosette to do her part

as our ever faithful Blood Hound guard dog...

by honoring the HEART of our work to promote global maternity care

ON International Midwives Day 

by delivering SEVENTEEN puppies...

...in Haiti!

it's official...back to school this fall!

I'm finishing up my last week with Midwives for Haiti for now...Illa & Juslene are just doing a fabulous job with the new postnatal care program!...& our last midwife/volunteer for the near future leaves this weekend too. It's been an amazing experience and I'm grateful for the way that MFH welcomed me into their community and let me walk alongside them and use my skills in helping the Haitian nurses provide much needed maternity care here in Haiti.

I look forward to see what comes of our relationship next!!

My time here has ALSO been a fabulous precursor...

                  to a pretty exciting email that arrived a few days ago from:

Dear Rebecca,

Welcome to Frontier Nursing University!  I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Class 130. ...We look forward to having you join us on this exciting journey. 

SO, I am now officially enrolled in the MSN+DNP Midwifery program!!! 

BIG,

exciting,

looooong awaited,

little bit scary.

super fantastic

NEXT STEP!

I want to also publicly thank LakePointe Church in Rockwall, TX for their support in getting me started on this personal & spiritual calling, especially in relationship to Haiti...and all that God will use it for in the future!

I'll be applying for further scholarships through the school & several maternity care organizations, but if you are interested in joining me on this journey through prayer, financial or physical needs support, see this ministry page for MORE details.

It may be a GOD thing...but one of our volunteers last week is going to be one of my future instructors @ FNU! She and the other midwife here currently, have both been such an encouragement as I look forward to the somewhat daunting task of moving into this new role.

Seeing the ENORMOUS need for even the most basic women's/maternity & newborn care here in Haiti & knowing that it is only one of many such countries...is the other factor that URGES me forward on this new adventure. I'll be posting several related needs in the coming months...from volunteers, to stateside clinical midwifery preceptor sites, to medical supplies and reusable diaper/peripad donations.

  

 Feel free to contact me (rebecca@tenmilliontoes.org) if you're interested in partnering to help provide safer births for ALL Haitian moms & babies.

Orphan Care Prevention!!

a GRAND opening in Hinche...

Today was the first day of the new Midwives for Haiti Post-Natal out patient follow up clinic on the grounds of Hopital Ste Therese. Illa did follow up visits and Jusline did mom/baby assessments hospital discharges.

After intensive discharge teaching all week, especially about "early milk" and encouraging moms to breastfeed fequently, drink plenty of water and eat a variety of healthy foods....drummroll...

ALL of the babies had LESS than 10% wt loss and MOST of them were already ABOVE their birth weight!

The mom's were all recovering well too.

Juslene also shared that over the weekend she had an inpatient mom that she saw before discharge and upon her postnatal assessment found the baby had a fever. Rather than just walking out the door 6 hours after delivery...never to be seen again, a possible infection was identified & her baby was referred to the Pediatric unit for early treatment.

HIGHLIGHT:

Two of our opening day patients are nurse graduates of Midwives for Haiti's Skilled Birth Attendant program. They not only had colleagues deliver their babies in the hospital, but now they're receving postnatal care follow up from former classmates & new co-workers as well.

It made for a lively FIRST day!

Gotta love any work day that includes a moment like this...!

Pauline's Beautiful Baby GIRL

Ivanese's GORGEOUS Baby Boy

Goal met: the 3 H's

Happy Healthy Haitian Mom's & Babies!!

Ministry Projects: Maternity Care

While I wish that I had ALL of the details to share on this current project in development, what I DO have to share is quite exciting!

For several years I have been in communication off & on with Nadene Brunck, the founder of Midwives for Haiti. Initially it was for imformation I needed on a mock up midwifery care grant-writing project for a course I was taking at the time. Over the past year she has been a wise voice on my journey into maternity care here as well as my plans for midwifery school, which God willing I'll begin in the fall.

While I had already hoped to meet up with her while she was in Haiti this past month, the circumstances took a turn. We arrived in Hinche without the list of specific questions that I had in mind and instead just absorbed our experiences at the local hospital where MFH provides clinical experience to their students. We soaked up rural life in Haiti and we talked about all that we had on our hearts and then listened to Nadene and her co-workers do the same. It was more information than we could process in 2 days, but we've kept the line of communication open on how we might work together and bring more Haitian babies into this world safely and keep their moms healthy & alive to care for them.

Last week a great opportunity rose to the surface & Nadene & I began discussing my taking leadership of a project that her organization just can't get to at the moment. 

Opening & managing...A BIRTHING CENTER!!

Hopital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) is located up north in Deschapelles. It has been providing care and saving lives in the Artibonite Valley for nearly 60 years.

While it is a project still being "hatched", the idea is that our ministry will partner with HAS & Midwives for Haiti (MFH) to start a free-standing birthing center on their campus compound. While they do already provide maternity care, it is more than they can handle. They have been asking MFH to do open this center, as they would like to move all of the low risk births there for the skilled birth attendants to provide care & focus on hihg risk maternity cases in the hospital. They would also like to have a MFH training program at their location eventually.

While I DREAM of starting community birthing centers throughout the country, I couldn't ASK for a more nurturing situation to learn and grow and gain my first birthing center administrative experience in, while I attend school. 

The birthing center will be staffed by two nurses with obstetrical specialty that have recently graduated from MFH's World Health Organization approved skilled birth attendant training program. I will pitch in with supportive patient care when I am onsite & the rest of the time oversee the details of operation.

We are hoping to get things moving by summer, so watch for more news on this upcoming project & details on the many ways that you can help support it!

KNOWN Ministry/Project NEEDS:

I AM currently looking for MIDWIVES, L&D, Mother/Baby and NICU RN's who might be interested in working in Haiti either for a short -term trip, or partnering with us as long-term ministry field staff. 

I am ALSO looking for a clinical site in the U.S. to complete my CNM skills requirements in 2016. It does seem early, but the school recommends finding a clinical site and preceptor before you even begin!

Again, thank you for your interest & support of the work that God has laid out before us-

Rebecca 

To refreshing skills and BEYOND!!

SWEET blessings to share, regarding my current travel nurse contract...!

While I took it for two main reasons: updating my L&D skills and helping our finances God has been SO GOOD to use it for more…

First, I am enjoying the fact that the hospital is nestled in the neighborhood that I grew up in in Northern California. In fact my mom lives just a few blocks away & I actually was a “candy striper” (for those of you who don’t remember what that means - a student volunteer) at this hospital as a very young teen. I remember wishing that my duties included holding the newborn babies back then, but usually it was running errands for the nurses & clerks. Now here I am delivering & holding babies at the same hospital MANY years later!

Secondly, it has been super rejuvenating to be able to drop in on family after work and on days off to share life together a bit and have the time to catch up from the heart. Driving three of my five kids to drop off work applications, attend interviews, and giving words of encouragement or hugs as needed, especially to my oldest, who has been on her own the past couple of years ALL feeds my soul as much as theirs.

Lastly, the most unexpected blessing has been the professionals that I am working with. The RN’s have been kind, helpful & patient as I’ve had to get up to speed on their computer documentation system. Thankfully, my patient care skills have flowed as if I never stepped away. It has been reaffirming to realize that assisting birth is still a very deep part of who I am!

The DOCTORS that I am working with here have taken this to another whole level though. Somehow, I have been ending up with quite a few “natural” deliveries...I would choose them anyhow, typically, but these have been assigned. The feedback that they have given about my patient care has been a true BOOST! Since this hospital has no midwives on staff I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as learning beyond my current skills. There ARE however a substantial team of female doctors that are very collaborative and “real”. Earlier today, one of them, when I explained that I was paying closer attention to “repairs” since I am preparing for midwifery school in a few months...jumped in & spent her time teaching me EVERYTHING that she was doing and explaining complexities that I won’t go into detail on. I feel like my education has already commenced and that I am SUPER fortunate to have 8 more weeks of this opportunity! Since it is likely that I will be helping deliver babies in Haiti long before my degree is completed, those skills are absolutely priceless...& once again I feel BLESSED!!