Hi Second Mile Haiti Family,
Jenn here. I’m back again this week to share about one moment in particular.
Yesterday, a 21-year-old named Franchesca arrived at the Maternity Center in labor at 6:30 PM, 7 cm dilated.
She had started prenatal care with us at 28 weeks. Late starts like this are not uncommon as more and more women find themselves pushing off prenatal care due to the current situation in Haiti.
But for Franchesca, this late start, was causing some concern.
Above: Inside the grounds of Second Mile Haiti’s Maternity & Birth Center just outside of Cap Haitien, Haiti
When Francesca came for her first visit, the Midwife attending to her had asked her to get an ultrasound for more accurate dating. Even though Franchesca was pretty sure about the date of her last period, the size of her belly didn’t match those dates.
Our midwives are trained in first-trimester ultrasounds, but not the more complex second and third-trimester ultrasounds. They told Francesca where she could go and to back her results.
Franchesca returned for her next appointment and the one after that. But Ultrasounds are expensive; she never returned with the scan.
When she arrived yesterday evening in labor and very close to birth, we only had her last menstrual period to rely on.
Our protocols dictate that women should be at least 37 weeks to deliver at our facility.
Frachesca appeared to be just 35 weeks or maybe less. Without more certainty that her baby wasn’t premature, Frachesca wasn’t a good candidate for birth at our Center. Instead, we were prepared to drive her and her support person to our transfer hospital just 15 minutes away. We were ready to hop in the vehicle and go…
There was only one problem.
Franchesca didn’t have a support person.
Francesca had been dropped off by a neighbor, who didn’t stick around after she’d come inside. Our transfer hospital has been clear, we must not transfer a client in labor who doesn’t have a support person by their side.
It’s a policy we’ve had to respect.
Since Franchesca was already pushing, the decision was made to support her here, at our Center, and to be ready for an emergency transfer after the baby was born.
It wasn’t ideal. But it was the situation we faced. And to be frank, these types of less-than-ideal scenarios have grown more and more common over the past several month.
The truth is that many pregnant women in Haiti don’t have everything they need for a healthy pregnancy and a safe birth.
Caption: Today’s prenatal education class attended by 130 pregnant women. Miss Cossier, a Nurse Midwife gave information on breastfeeding.
In the meantime, Franchesca was pushing and we needed to find her a support person.
She’d forgotten her phone in her rush to come to the center, but the soon-to-be mom did have her own mother’s number memorized. Herode, our operation’s Manager, called her mom.
She was 25 minutes away, without money to travel.
With no time to fetch her, we contacted Kendy. Kendy is a Second Mile Haiti employee. He has his own motorcycle and lived in the area where Franchesca’s mom was located.
Even though he was off-duty and in church, he didn't hesitate when we asked him to locate Francesca’s mom and bring her to the center.
This was Francesca’s first pregnancy and she was understandably scared about the prospect of giving birth. Yet, at our Center, she had a full team of support. By her side were two Midwives, one nurse, and myself.
We gave her our undivided attention.
All hands on deck.
Manithe, the midwife who had been with Franchesca since her arrival, decided to stay on to assist the oncoming team. Kendy was on his way to find Francesca's mom and Herode was preparing the transfer car—just in case.
We were all hoping for the best, while remaining prepared for the worst:
Franchesca’s baby may be coming too soon. But, we’d be ready to help the baby breath if that’s what was necessary.
I felt grateful that Francesca could be surrounded by so much love and support.
In a country where there is only 2.5 physicians for every 10,000 people, and even fewer skilled Midwives, this feels special and rare.
Women like Francesca don’t usually get to experience such care. Too many health facilities in Haiti are overcrowded and understaffed. In these settings, health providers—who are doing their best under challenging circumstances—barely have time for basic checks.
The result is that most women take their chances and give birth at home where they can spend their resources on food instead of hospital fees. And—at least—at home they have a little space.
At Second Mile Haiti, we try to offer the best of both worlds: comfort, affordability, and a place to move around, plus trained Midwives who can respond when things don’t go as planned.
Within the hour, Franchesca’s pushing intensified.
As the baby emerged, the umbilical cord became visible, wrapped tightly around the baby’s neck. The Midwife, Miss Claude, skillfully loosened and unraveled it. When she did, the baby came out screaming.
Music to everyone’s ears.
A strong cry. A healthy set of lungs. To everyone’s surprise, Francesca’s baby was full term or close to it. The nurse assigned an Apgar score of 10-10. There would be no emergency transfer. We had ourselves a healthy baby.
Within two minutes of the baby’s triumphant emergence, Francesca’s mom arrived.
She dropped to her knees with the good news. “Thank you, God.”
And in the subsequent minutes, she told us how their family had been displaced—how she had migrated from Port au Prince only two months ago.
Life is hard here.
Yet, new babies and growing families give us all the motivation we need to continue to hope for better days.
Our volumes of patients are increasing—both pregnant women and malnourished children—and each case is becoming more difficult, but I am glad we are here.
Francesca deserved this moment.
All moms do.
Once again, this week, I am coming to you to say thank you.
I am proud of the work we do. I am proud of the goals we have. I am proud that we don’t waiver on the quality of care we give just because our volumes increases or the cases are more complicated.
That’s mainly because of you
Thank you for being a part of this life saving work. Your trust in us means more than we can say.
From where I sit, you can see 130 women about to take their leave from our weekly education class for prenatal clients. Seeing them rise, is a reminder to wrap this up and get back to work.
Before I go, I’ll say this: Even as our volumes increase, I can promise this, we’ll work to support each and every family with as much dedication, creativity, and persistence as we showed to Franchesca.
Above: Three generations. Franchesca, her mother, and her daughter, Christoria.
Sending love from 🇭🇹
Jenn
Jenn Schenk
Executive Director
Second Mile Haiti