Written by: Barbara Hotelling, Impact Global Health Alliance International Volunteer, and Duke University Clinical Nursing Educator 

Over spring break 2015, a clinical nurse educator and three Duke nursing students in their fourth semester traveled to rural Guatemala with Impact Global Health Alliance Global to provide health care for mothers and children. The indigenous Chuj women of San Sebastián Coatán in the northwest highlands of Guatemala suffer from extreme maternal mortality, with a rate of 584 deaths per 100,000 live births—more than five times the national average. The region is locally known as The Triangle of Death.

Barbara H. providing training for Casa Materna and Child Survival staff on the role of the Doula before, during and after the birth. She is demonstrating a way to relieve lower back pain on a mother who is expecting.

 

Volunteers Tara and Jessica spent the morning weighing children the village of Calhuitz

Impact Global Health Alliance Global reaches 180 remote villages comprised of 30,654 Mayan children and 64,660 Mayan women of reproductive age. Since 2011, this successful community-based project has halved child deaths from pneumonia and diarrhea and effectively reduced child mortality by 37%. Through community education efforts, Impact Global Health Alliance has nearly doubled the percentage of women giving birth in health facilities, helping to decrease maternal mortality rates by 63% and eliminate maternal deaths from infection and eclampsia.

Danielle with the happy newborn and mother.

There are two driving forces behind Impact Global Health Alliance’ successes. First are the Casa Materna maternity centers, which provide care and support during the pregnancy, birth, and first five years of life of the child, as well as lactation support groups and cooking lessons on preparing nutritious meals using local ingredients. The second is a training cascade that empowers local staff and volunteers from within the community with the knowledge and skills to provide basic medical care and make referrals to the Casa Materna or the hospital.  Both of these program initiatives are directed by Impact Global Health Alliance’ local partner organization, Impact Global Health Alliance-Guatemala, which is managed by staff from Guatemala and the project communities.

Not all Impact Global Health Alliance groups consist of medically trained volunteers. This group’s nursing skills allowed them to help the Community Health Workers provide care and services in the community. Throughout the week they traveled with Community Health Workers to some of the clinics where these medical interventions are offered to provide immunizations for children under age five and conduct prenatal checkups. They also accompanied Casa Materna staff on home visits to perform scheduled checks on young children and review information from the health classes with the mothers. Before the trip the nursing students partnered with REMEDY at Duke and reached out to friends and family to gather donated medical supplies for the project site. Because of their efforts, they were able to donate $6,770 worth of much needed supplies to the Casas Maternas.  The group feels extremely grateful for the opportunity to share their training and blessed by the people they worked and played with.

Barbara H. performs prenatal checkups on women including checking blood pressure since high blood pressure can be dangerous for both mother and child during pregnancy.

 

Duke volunteers joined by Impact Global Health Alliance Casa Materna and Child Survival staff after providing a class on the role of the Doula and neonatal resuscitation.

If you or a group are interested in a rewarding traveling and volunteering opportunity with Impact Global Health Alliance, please contact development associate, Barbara Muffoletto at [email protected]