Global Birthing Home Foundation, Inc.

Our mission is to significantly reduce the maternal and infant mortality rates in rural Haitian communities, where maternal and infant health care services are not otherwise accessible. To date, we have recorded over 7,500 healthy deliveries without a single maternal death, in an region with a population of 72,000. Our services include pre- and post-natal care, midwife attended births, family planning (the largest program in southern Haiti), well baby care/vaccinations, STD screening and treatment, reproductive health education and care, and community health outreach. As more women receive quality healthcare, more mothers are able to help provide for their families, and send their children to school. Family planning services provide an opportunity for mothers to space their pregnancies and add to the community’s economy through increased opportunities to earn income. All of our services are recorded in detail in an Electronic Medical Records system, allowing accurate and complete data collection and tracking. Our success is measured not just by reduced maternal and infant mortality rates, but also by the reduced birth rate of the community as a whole, the economic status of the community, and the number of people receiving our services. We are working to expand the boundaries of our zone of service to reach ever more women who are in need of our services, with an expectation of reaching a population of over 100,000 within the next two years.

Our strategies to expand services include: Training of traditional birth attendants (Matrones) in remote areas and establishing a Network of Essential Services and Treatment (NEST). Both approaches utilize trained Haitian staff, promoting economic development. Our model of care's success demonstrates our capability to train Matrones and establish NEST locations, expanding our service zone to provide high-quality maternal and infant healthcare to a larger population. Each Matrone trained in our program and each NEST location is a foundation for future expansion. Below is an explanation of each approach and how it strengthens our organization’s goal of reduced infant and maternal mortality rates in underserved Haitian communities. 1) Training of Matrones in remote areas: We will recruit Matrones from communities outside of our current service zone, and create a communication network facilitating access to obstetric care prior to and at the time of delivery. Matrones will be a modified type of community health worker, building relationships with women in their neighborhoods, particularly those who are pregnant. The Matrones will provide basic services and education essential to improving maternal and newborn survival. They will attend training sessions regarding their roles, responsibilities and pertinent, pregnancy–focused health topics. Matrones will be issued cell phones, solar chargers, and phone cards, facilitating communication between Maison de Naissance midwives, ambulance drivers and their community’s pregnant women. Matrones will perform monthly home visits to monitor pregnancies, and will provide education regarding signs of impending labor or complications, so they can alert the Matrone to call for transportation as needed. A 4-wheel drive vehicle serves as an ambulance to transport women in labor to Maison de Naissance, or to the city hospital in the event of complications requiring more advanced obstetric care. This program allows women with limited access to transportation and healthcare to get early care and significantly reduce avoidable complications. 2) The NEST initiative focuses on three outcome areas, saving more lives in remote regions of Haiti without access to maternal health services: a) Train nurse assistants to become assistant midwives using a culturally relevant, comprehensive curriculum and methodology. b) Deploy these trained assistant midwives to specially designated NEST outreach clinics located at existing, known sites (e.g., markets, schools, churches. etc.) in remote and isolated areas. c) Implement a communications and transportation system linking the assistant midwives and their patients to MN, which provides supervision and access to emergency services as needed.  An additional benefit of NEST’s strategy is the investment in human capital and local economies by providing opportunities for upward mobility.

We have a proven model of care, supported by well-documented procedures and 17+ years of experience backed by statistical records. We believe in change from the bottom up, working at the grass roots level, incorporating empowerment, economic development and education into our strategic plan. We have a 100% Haitian staff at Maison de Naissance, primarily hired from within our zone of service, helping to establish trust with those who have no experience with institutional care, and have an understandable mistrust of it. Also, Maison de Naissance has utilized an electronic medical records system since the day our doors opened for consistent data recording and reporting. We also provide emergency transportation whenever necessary. We work closely with the Haitian Ministry of Health and Population, and are the first free standing midwifery-based operation to receive a permanent license to operate in Haiti. We have built relationships with other maternal health NGOs throughout Haiti, including a midwife training organization (Midwives for Haiti) to help provide quality staff. This network works to sustain each member through the frequent political, natural, and man-made disasters which plague Haiti. Our co-founder, Dr. Betsy Wickstrom, is a high-risk perinatal consultant and can provide guidance via internet messaging services. We are a member of Goodbirth.net, a network of global midwifery centers, and have been honored by them for our model of care with a "Quality Leadership Award". Our original zone of service encompassed an area with a population of 16,000, and we now serve an expanded geographic area with a population of 72,000, per census records. Global Birthing Home Foundation has the proven processes, experience and consistent history to continue to expand our reach to additional populations.

In 2018, we were able to put into operation a much-needed new emergency vehicle. We have received two Rotary International grants (delayed by unrest and the COVID pandemic) which will 1) Fund a second emergency vehicle and cell phones with monthly stipends for a traditional birth attendant training program; and 2) Implement an HPV testing and treatment program to prevent cervical cancer, the most deadly form of cancer for women in Haiti.  As we approach the 8,000 safe deliveries milestone, our reputation continues to grow throughout the southern peninsula of Haiti. We have seen women travel all the way from Port-au-Prince for needed medicine and/or care for their pregnancies. Our biggest obstacle is the instability of Haiti and the impact on procuring medical supplies. We continue to implement additional controls as needed to insure operations continue whatever the challenge. We continue to demonstrate our successful model of care and longevity as a worthy investment to sustain the funding needed for Maison de Naissance to strive and grow. Despite the many ongoing challenges of working in a remote, rural region of Haiti, with the help of our dedicated Haitian staff and funders, we continue to make a significant and growing impact for the mothers and infants we serve.