Casa Materna in the News!

Some exciting news this week: A Cochabamba newspaper came to report on the Casa Materna in Punata! I have some issues with the reporting, for example we're trying to get people to stop using the term "humanized" (as if the other way of attending births was inhuman). I also don't think any of the women gave their consent to have their names printed in the paper. But "informed consent" doesn't seem to be a priority for everyone here. All the same it's great that people will be reading about the Casa Materna! Here is my (rough) translation of the article, the title just doesn't translate well though... (let me know if you have suggestions!). Here is a link to the original. Also check out this cool video with one of my colleagues describing the Casa and one of the health promotors as well!!

In the Punata Hospital, women of quechua origin can give birth in a squatting position, with the presence of their family members and traditional midwife, just as they would in their homes.

Four babies born with "humanized birth"

By Alcócer Caero Gisela - Los Tiempos - 9/09/2009

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Attending to an expecting mother in the Casa Materna de Punata yesterday. -Goitia Rodolfo Los Tiempos

The "humanized birth" model, a project which was first presented six months ago in the Punata Hospital has now brought into this world four children. Three were born without a single problem, while the fourth with complications, but the life of the baby was saved thanks to a cesaerean section that prevented him from being strangled by the umbilical cord.

The Casa Materna of the Punata Hospital began attending its first patients that seek respect for their cultural traditions (such as giving birth in a squatting position) while ensuring a healthy birth.

According to the doctor responsible for the center, David Antezana, although it was inaugurated in March of this year, it began to function in June, since it lacked staffing to care for the women and now the Mayor's office, Hospital, and an organization from the United States (i.e. Compton Mentor Fellowship!!) obtained the resources to get the project going.

The center was installed to fulfill Law 496 that establishes that every woman has the right to be attended in accordance with her customs and understanding of her pregnancy and birth.

The first woman to give give birth with the "humanized birth" model, in the squatting position and with a midwife and the supervision of a doctor (note: this is not actually true, her husband supported her but there was no midwife present) was Valeriana Mamani Chura, aged 41, who learned of the center from her neighbors in Vacas and decided to come. The birth was a success, although the child weighed 4.100 grams. She left the hospital the next day with her son in her arms.

The second was Arminda Panozo Zurita, from Punata and 24 years old. She didn't want to renounce her family's traditions and opted for the special ream where she could have her baby in a squatting position and with the presence of her mother and a midwife. Her baby weighed 3.400 grams.

The last woman to use the Casa Materna was Aida Jiménez Saavedra, who learned of it in Toco. Her last birth was in her home and with the help of a midwife, she suffered a lot and almost lost the child. For this reason, she decided to come to the hospital for the security, but she didn't want to use the gynocological table and opted for the mattress to give birth in the squatting position. Her daughter weighed 2.600 grams and she left the hospital 2 days later.

Respect for traditions

The first humanized intercultural birth room in Cochabamba was inaugurated March 3rd of this year in the Hospital Manuel Ascencio Villarroel de Punata, with the economic support of Japonese Cooperation, which invested 65,000 dollares to make the space function.

It is hoped that this initiative will reduce the deaths in childbirth in all of the country, that are at least 190 cases for every 100,000 women of reproductive age and 61 of every 1,000 children born alive. These rates are so high in Bolivia because the women in the rural areas culturally give birth in their homes, acompanied by their husbands and other family members, in vertical positions and without the possibility to survive potential complications because there aren't specialiests or equipment for cesaerean sections and can bleed to death.

This new birthing center is designed so that indigenous women that come to the hospital don't feel traumatized by a health system opposite to their traditions, whichh, until now, obligated them to wear light colored gowns, impeded their family members from entering the room and made them lie down to give birth in a horizontal position.