Plan advocates for Haitian moms-to-be
Photo courtesy of Plan staff.
Worry and pregnancy go hand-in-hand in post-earthquake Haiti.
The prospect of giving birth gives Landy Alexis sleepless nights. Six months pregnant, she is constantly on edge imagining the earth is shaking.
“I am worried I am becoming crazy. At night I have nightmares and think about what I have seen – crumbling buildings, mutilated people,” says Landy Alexis. She is not alone in her fear, being one of the estimated 63,000 pregnant women in Haiti at the moment.
Haitian moms-to-be have unique worries: increased risk of maternal death, complications during birth, availability of medicine and vaccinations, finding clean water for formula, and sterilization of birthing instruments. This is on top of the already numerous day-to-day worries: getting food on a daily basis, physical and mental stress, and not surprisingly, the future.
From bad to worse
Even before the quake, Haiti already had the highest rate of maternal death in the region – 40 times higher than Chile. “The situation was already very bad in Haiti and the earthquake is definitely not going to improve things,” says Dr. Marjolein Jacobs, a regional health adviser with Plan.
A major concern is that many pregnant women now live in temporary shelters, and understandably the prospect of giving birth in crowded, possibly unhygienic tent sites cause worry. Birth under these circumstances means many babies will not receive medical check-ups or vaccinations. The United Nations predicts 15% of all these births will require emergency care for life-threatening complications.
Plan support
Plan is demanding that humanitarian response to the disaster must give a priority to reproductive health, including emergency obstetric and neonatal care, as well as clean delivery at functioning health facilities. Plan has worked for many years in Haiti with local non-governmental and community-based organizations offering health services, such as the Foyer St. Camille, a hospital near Croix-de-Bouquets that Plan supports.
Despite all the worries and nightmares, Landy Alexis remains optimistic about becoming a mother: “Having a child is a kind of hope.”
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