When Melchora joined the Maternal Child Health project, she was pregnant with her fourth child and had just been diagnosed with placenta previa, a dangerous prenatal condition. She had already miscarried once and her husband—a day laborer on nearby coffee farms—couldn’t afford care for what doctors were calling a high risk pregnancy. Through the project, however, Melchora received free access to a local clinic and a few months ago safely gave birth to Antonia, a beautiful, healthy baby girl.
Stories that start like Melchora’s are common here. Limited access to medical care and education contribute enormously to high mortality rates for mothers and infants in Guatemala. This is especially true in indigenous, coffee-farming communities where an estimated 29% of women use a skilled medical attendant during birth.
Our Maternal Child Health project, initiated in 2006, was designed to give mothers and their children the medical and educational support they need to survive the most vulnerable periods of pregnancy and early childhood. Through the project, mothers receive full pre- and post-natal care and children receive free medical attention from birth until age two.
The project connects individual sponsors with mothers here in Santiago Atitlán. Through the project, sponsored mothers and children receive access to preventive and curative health care at local clinic Rxiin Tnamet. Project staff also lead educational workshops on topics like child development, basic nutrition, home hygiene, and reproductive health to promote healthy habits and effective self-advocacy among sponsored mothers.
Stories that start like Melchora’s are common here. Limited access to medical care and education contribute enormously to high mortality rates for mothers and infants in Guatemala. This is especially true in indigenous, coffee-farming communities where an estimated 29% of women use a skilled medical attendant during birth.
Our Maternal Child Health project, initiated in 2006, was designed to give mothers and their children the medical and educational support they need to survive the most vulnerable periods of pregnancy and early childhood. Through the project, mothers receive full pre- and post-natal care and children receive free medical attention from birth until age two.
The project connects individual sponsors with mothers here in Santiago Atitlán. Through the project, sponsored mothers and children receive access to preventive and curative health care at local clinic Rxiin Tnamet. Project staff also lead educational workshops on topics like child development, basic nutrition, home hygiene, and reproductive health to promote healthy habits and effective self-advocacy among sponsored mothers.
