Global Pediatric Alliance

GPA's mission is to reduce preventable maternal and child death and improve the quality of life for women and children in Latin America through empowering grassroots communities. We do this by training health promoters and midwives and providing financial and technical support to small organizations and community groups. Since our inception, GPA has provided workshops in pediatric medicine, emergency care, and reproductive health to hundreds of doctors, nurses, primary health care providers and lay midwives in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Mexico. Many of the areas where we work lack access to any other type of health or financial resources. \r\n\r\nAn underlying goal of GPA's program work is to build self-sufficiency among local health care staff and members of the communities themselves.

Global Pediatric Alliance (GPA) works in partnership with communities to empower traditional indigenous midwives and community health workers because they are often the only link to essential maternal and child health services in some of the poorest regions in Mexico and Guatemala. We do this through our Midwife Training Program by offering workshops in evidence-based pediatric primary care, prenatal care, birth techniques and management, the recognition of risk factors and danger signs, and the integration of traditional medicine. We also strengthen the skills of Community Health Workers by supporting the training of community health promoters in first aid, prenatal care, obstetric emergencies, respiratory and diarrheal diseases, as well as in the coordination of an emergency transportation fund. Each year, GPA also funds health-related projects designed by grassroots communities, which have the potential for long-term impact and sustainability. Projects range from infrastructure to educational workshops. Recent examples include chlorination of a municipal water system serving 4,800 families in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, installation of clean water tanks at rural health clinics, and reproductive health and family planning education for indigenous girls and adolescents. \r\n\r\nAn underlying goal of GPA's program work is to build self-sufficiency among local health care staff and members of the communities themselves. Over the past five years we have successfully trained 13 different groups of traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in rural, indigenous communities of Chiapas, Mexico, helping several of them establish self-governed associations, and fostering the establishment of a statewide Midwife Network. Through our Small Grants program, we have supported 28 community-driven health projects, designed by grassroots groups using approaches known to have a significant impact on maternal and child mortality, including clean water projects and health promoter training.

Global Pediatric Alliance (GPA) was founded in 2002 by pediatrician Scott Cohen in the belief that educating lay health workers could improve child and maternal health in poor, rural areas. We do this by training health promoters and midwives and providing financial support to small organizations and community groups. Since our inception, GPA has provided workshops in evidence-based pediatric medicine, emergency care, and reproductive health to hundreds of doctors, nurses, primary health care providers and lay midwives in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Mexico. Many of the areas where we work lack access to any other type of health or financial resources. \r\n\r\nThe Board of Directors is comprised of medical and public health who are responsible for maintaining GPA's strategic vision and who also provide volunteer hours to guide GPA's health training program. The GPA staff is made up of professionals with ample experience in implementing health and educational projects in indigenous communities, with some staff members and trainers from these communities themselves. We employ professional midwife trainers who have medical experience working in hospitals and maternal waiting homes and who received certification as Skilled Birth Attendants (a higher level of medical practice), many of whom are fluent in Tzotzil and Tzeltal, and who have been working with GPA over the past years.\r\n\r\nTo date, GPA has trained approximately 1400 traditional midwives and health promoters on comprehensive prenatal care, obstetric and newborn emergencies and postpartum care in Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador and Nicaragua.

Approximately 1400 midwives, health auxiliaries and health promoters trained and supported in GPA's evidence-based curriculum for prenatal care, delivery, postpartum and newborn care.\r\n\r\nOver the past five years, more than 225 midwives have been trained to recognize and respond to obstetric emergencies and newborn emergencies both at the community level with the GPA evidence-based curriculum and in a clinic setting.\r\n\r\nA state network of midwives has been established in Chiapas, Mexico to provide a platform for midwives to receive skills trainings, interact with health directors, establish links with health institutions, influence public policy and promote their officially recognized integration into the continuum of care for expecting mothers and newborns.\r\n\r\nKey Health institution staff trained in providing culturally appropriate and respectful prenatal, delivery and postpartum, and newborn care at the Hospital de la Mujer in Chiapas, Mexico\r\n\r\n152 chlorination systems have been installed in 145 Guatemalan communities, and 60 household rainwater catchment systems in Ecuador, bringing clean water to approximately 75,000 community members.\r\n\r\n30 rural communities have created community emergency funds in the past 2 years, benefitting more than 8,500 people, and helping save the lives of women suffering obstetric emergencies. \r\n\r\nGPA has supported more than 25 community-driven health projects for innovative projects to address urgent health needs, such as clean water, sanitation, health clinics, severe malnutrition, and emergency response crews. \r\n\r\nGPA helped indigenous midwives in Chiapas, Mexico establish their own legally recognized civil association “Tzoblej Chihchil Nich Romero, A.C." The association is self-governed and is the first in the region to give community midwives a collective voice to increase their recognition and gain better access to services for their clients.