Our Charity Partner: Midwives For Haiti
For Every Blanket You Purchase from Wildflower & Oak
We Will Donate One Clean Delivery Kit to Midwives For Haiti
At Wildflower & Oak we believe that every woman deserves a chance at a safe and healthy childbirth. Many of us live in countries where comprehensive and effective medical access means that the death of a mother or baby during childbirth is an extremely rare and unlikely reality. Unfortunately this is not the case for many mothers and their babies around the world.
The small island nation of Haiti has the highest rates of neonatal, infant and maternal mortality in the Western Hemisphere.
Most of the maternal deaths are caused by eclampsia, sepsis, and postpartum haemorrhage (bleeding) that would be largely preventable with the appropriate medical attention. Unfortunately there is only one doctor for every 8,000 Haitians, one nurse for every 6,000, and one midwife for every 50,000 (UNFPA, 2014).
Due to a combination of poverty, remoteness and a shortage of medical facilities it is estimated that 75% of rural births in Haiti are not attended by a medical professional (UNICEF, 2013). And only 63% of non-rural births have a skilled carer present.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) has determined that, "skilled attendance at all births is considered to be the single most critical intervention for ensuring safe motherhood.”
By ensuring that mothers in Haiti receive prenatal, delivery and postpartum care performed by Skilled Birth Attendants, more mothers will be there to care for their families, build their communities and work together to break the cycle of poverty.
That is what Midwives For Haiti, our charity partner, are working tirelessly on the ground to achieve.
Midwives For Haiti is a non-profit organisation started in 2006 by Nadene Brunk (a Certified Nurse Midwife) after seeing firsthand on a medical trip to Haiti the severe shortage of resources and skilled care for pregnant women in the country.
Midwives For Haiti works in partnership with Haiti's Ministry of Public Health and local organisations to help improve the safety of women during and after their births through life changing education programs and mobile health clinics.
Every Wildflower & Oak blanket purchased will help support Midwives For Haiti and specifically their Matwòn Outreach Program.
In Haiti an estimated 75% of births are attended by a traditional birth attendant known as a Matwòn. These births are usually outside of medical facilities and while these men and women have often attended many deliveries in their communities, many Matwòns have not been formally trained to identify dangerous signs during pregnancy and/or labour.
Midwives For Haiti have established a 5 month training program that works in the local community with Matwòns to educate the men and women about the most crucial strategies proven to reduce rates of maternal and neonatal death.
Alongside this training, Midwives For Haiti distribute Clean Delivery Kits which have been designed around local Matròn culture and evidence-based recommendations from leading health agencies and contain the essential items for a clean delivery.
Since 2012, the Matron Outreach Program has trained 122 Matwòns across 5 rural communities and distributed over 1400 clean delivery kits.
Here at Wildflower & Oak we will be supporting this incredible program by donating one Clean Delivery Kit for every blanket purchased.
Your purchase means something. Help us help mothers in Haiti bring their babies into the world safely.
Watch the video below to learn more about the Midwives For Haiti's Matwòn training program and the impact it is having in the community.
Read more about Midwives For Haiti and their tireless efforts to help mothers deliver their babies safely here.