Article: One baby?s story shows why Haiti is no place to give birth

Marianopolita

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Dec 26, 2003
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Here is an article in today's Toronto Star about what it's like to give birth in Haiti.

Although I know Haiti as a country has challenges on all fronts, including health care, hospitals (or the lack of good ones) etc the severity of the issues really hit home after reading an article like this one. It just accentuates the huge challenges of the country and the impact it has on every aspect of the daily lives of its population.

It's an incredible story of an under aged girl who gave birth but the out come was not good. The article reveals so many issues about the need for basic health care, non sanitary conditions, still births, lack of good hospitals with proper equipment, funds etc. just to mention a few primary challenges.

nyiaaa.jpg



Here is the link: World News: One baby


-Marianopolita.
 

bob saunders

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Babies having babies; lack of birth Control and education is a huge issue even in so-called first world countries. What chance does a 14 year girl with a grade six education have.
 

RobGar

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How incredibly sad and angering!!! It brings up so many questions.....What is the government doing?.....Why are the masses so passive in such a state of affairs?...Why wasn't Duvalier brought to justice?..(I might know part of the answer to this one)...
 

TStroman3

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SO very sad, but help is needed.... who will be the one to step up and drive change? I doubt it will be the government.
 

bob saunders

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How incredibly sad and angering!!! It brings up so many questions.....What is the government doing?.....Why are the masses so passive in such a state of affairs?...Why wasn't Duvalier brought to justice?..(I might know part of the answer to this one)...

Why is the sky blue. Why is it the governments fault that 13 year old girls are getting pregnant? Hospitals, doctors, education....etc all take a lot of money and other resources before they are effective. Haiti is a bottomless pit, and not much seems to stick.
 

SKing

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There are hundreds of Midwives who volunteer in Haiti, some for months at a time. I know of several who have left their lives and moved there. They open clinics and run them on donations alone.
But without a single care from the government, this is not sufficient enough. As told in the article, and as everyone knows Midwives are not educated nor equipped to perform C-sections or do they sometimes have the medical means in their clinics to handle very serious complications. They then have to transfer the patient, but to where? Not every area is as fortunate as that one to gave an American run hospital nearby.
The country has to care, the government has to care, or we can send thousands of Midwives, OBs, students, etc. and it will still be the same 10 yrs from.now.
Just like in DR, who's Maternal mortality rate is no where near Haiti's but is still 10x the USA and Canadian rate, until the Dominican government or the people as a whole start to care, nothing will change. We can only try to avoid death, one woman, one baby at a time.
I would like to stress something so that people can ponder on it a little....
The majority of Haiti's maternal/infant mortality rates are due to pre-eclampsia and eclampsia.
The majority of Dominican Republic's maternal/infant mortality rates are due to infection, and secondary hemorrhage.
Hmmmmm.....

SHALENA
 

SKing

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Why is the sky blue. Why is it the governments fault that 13 year old girls are getting pregnant? Hospitals, doctors, education....etc all take a lot of money and other resources before they are effective. Haiti is a bottomless pit, and not much seems to stick.

Because men like the young girls next door neighbor, who raped her, are not being prosecuted and thrown under the jail.

SHALENA
 

Marianopolita

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Dec 26, 2003
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One article, many issues...

It's interesting how one article can evoke so many different perspectives from each reader. After reading the article, my first thought was about the deplorable and poor conditions of the hospitals and overall health care in Haiti which should not be a surprise but it just reiterates what many already know.

Girls and women of all ages in Haiti get pregnant with no means to support their babies but that's not the primary issue of this article as I understand it. However, Shalena hit the nail on the head. Many young girls are raped and this has been one of the biggest problems now in the tent cities after the earthquake. The cases of rape have increased to point where girls and women feel helpless. There are articles about this among the numerous problems brought about from the natural disaster. The Miami Herald specifically has published a clip about what is now a new phenomenon called tent babies. Not all girls and women who give birth are rape victims but a considerable number are in such cases.

In summary, the article addresses the collapsed health system in Haiti which was already in dire straits.


-Marianopolita.
 

bob saunders

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Because men like the young girls next door neighbor, who raped her, are not being prosecuted and thrown under the jail.

SHALENA

AGREED, but even in countries with prosecution of men for having sex with girls under the legal age there are numerous teenage pregnancies. I just re-read the article - nowhere does it say rape, only that he was the father, so I guess you are implying that because of her young age, that it was statutory rape, is that correct?
 

SKing

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AGREED, but even in countries with prosecution of men for having sex with girls under the legal age there are numerous teenage pregnancies. I just re-read the article - nowhere does it say rape, only that he was the father, so I guess you are implying that because of her young age, that it was statutory rape, is that correct?

Yes, she was 14. He was a grown man with 2 children of his own. He raped her. He should've been picked up, beaten, and left in the jail without so much as a napkin for his wounds.

SHALENA
 

SKing

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Also, just like in DR, they don't want too much help for fear that they may lose $$$.

SHALENA
 

Ringo

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Here is an article in today's Toronto Star about what it's like to give birth in Haiti.

Although I know Haiti as a country has challenges on all fronts, including health care, hospitals (or the lack of good ones) etc the severity of the issues really hit home after reading an article like this one. It just accentuates the huge challenges of the country and the impact it has on every aspect of the daily lives of its population.

It's an incredible story of an under aged girl who gave birth but the out come was not good. The article reveals so many issues about the need for basic health care, non sanitary conditions, still births, lack of good hospitals with proper equipment, funds etc. just to mention a few primary challenges.

nyiaaa.jpg



Here is the link: World News: One baby


-Marianopolita.

I'm not even going to read the article.

So many have given to Haiti and it all just disappears. Very little, if anything, has been done for the people and the situation in Haiti. Living in the D.R. it does not take much to see the massive amount of Haitians that have arrived in the last couple of years.

I did look at the photo and I have to wonder if this was a made for photo shot. Girl is in a nice new silk (?) dress and looks clean . The girl holding her has old cloths, dirty and has marks on her knees and face. The new looking SUV is clean but no one put much of anything under the girl. Also notice that the solution bag is empty, or close to it, and is below the injection point on the arm. I may be wrong, but wouldn't you see blood flowing to the bag?
 

SKing

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Nov 22, 2007
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I'm not even going to read the article.

So many have given to Haiti and it all just disappears. Very little, if anything, has been done for the people and the situation in Haiti. Living in the D.R. it does not take much to see the massive amount of Haitians that have arrived in the last couple of years.

I did look at the photo and I have to wonder if this was a made for photo shot. Girl is in a nice new silk (?) dress and looks clean . The girl holding her has old cloths, dirty and has marks on her knees and face. The new looking SUV is clean but no one put much of anything under the girl. Also notice that the solution bag is empty, or close to it, and is below the injection point on the arm. I may be wrong, but wouldn't you see blood flowing to the bag?

I don't even know why this picture was used to represent the article, this could not be the 14 y.o. the article focused on but it could be one of the many.women that have to be transported at times to another hospital if and when there is transportation.
Regarding the IV, yes, there should be blood flowing into the bag from the way that it is positioned but that can easily explained if the IV site is infiltrated or blocked.
I can't say if the pic is legit or no.
I do know that I will not donate to Haiti or to big organizations that give money to Haiti as the money never reaches the people. Give to the organizations where you SEE the money being used. I am personally involved with a group though if you do want to donate. It is called MamaBaby Haiti, the word has gotten out about their clinic and now they are severely overwhelmed and in need of supplies and volunteers. I will be there in February, and paying a hefty $1,000 for the pleasure

SHALENA
 

bri777

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Sep 11, 2010
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I was thinking the same

but then again
the real picture would have been too much !
 

La Mariposa

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I don't even know why this picture was used to represent the article, this could not be the 14 y.o. the article focused on but it could be one of the many.women that have to be transported at times to another hospital if and when there is transportation.
Regarding the IV, yes, there should be blood flowing into the bag from the way that it is positioned but that can easily explained if the IV site is infiltrated or blocked.
I can't say if the pic is legit or no.
I do know that I will not donate to Haiti or to big organizations that give money to Haiti as the money never reaches the people. Give to the organizations where you SEE the money being used. I am personally involved with a group though if you do want to donate. It is called MamaBaby Haiti, the word has gotten out about their clinic and now they are severely overwhelmed and in need of supplies and volunteers. I will be there in February, and paying a hefty $1,000 for the pleasure

SHALENA
Click the link on post 1 it's written:
Joudeline Bien-Aime, 14, was just five months pregnant when she was rushed to hospital after her water broke.
CATHERINE PORTER/THE TORONTO STAR
 

NALs

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Jan 20, 2003
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Just like in DR, who's Maternal mortality rate is no where near Haiti's but is still 10x the USA and Canadian rate, until the Dominican government or the people as a whole start to care, nothing will change. We can only try to avoid death, one woman, one baby at a time.

SHALENA
A good chunk of that is due to the influx into the Dominican public health system of perhaps thousands of illegal Haitian women every year with the purpose of giving birth. Many of those babies are born with all sorts of health problems and deficiencies that could had been prevented had proper medical attention been sought during the pregnancy. Since that's not the case with most Haitian women, nothing can be done to prevent the death of their babies or even the mothers. Often times, when a Haitian mother-to-be crosses the border and arrives at a Dominican hospital, that's the first time in their entire lives that they receive medical help.

Add to that a widespread healthcare system, but with resources that would had been adequate had it not been for the unchecked added demand from the illegals. Dominican public hospitals are not allowed to turn away people in emergency situations.

This isn't the only health issue that has been impacted by the influx, others such as malaria infections, cholera and many other diseases has seen a spike due to the migration problem. At a time even polio made a come back after decades of having been eradicated by the Dominican government.

Financially, all of this falls on the back of the Dominican middle class, since they are the ones that pay the most taxes (they account for a huge % of consumption, from which most tax collection is done).

It's too easy to say that the Dominican government doesn't do enough, when the reality is that it has done more than enough. The situation is just too much!

If the maternal mortality rate (and infant mortality rate) was segregated between Dominican mothers and foreigners, it would clearly show the impact the illegal immigration from Haiti is having in the system.
 
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I'm not even going to read the article.

So many have given to Haiti and it all just disappears. Very little, if anything, has been done for the people and the situation in Haiti. Living in the D.R. it does not take much to see the massive amount of Haitians that have arrived in the last couple of years.

I did look at the photo and I have to wonder if this was a made for photo shot. Girl is in a nice new silk (?) dress and looks clean . The girl holding her has old cloths, dirty and has marks on her knees and face. The new looking SUV is clean but no one put much of anything under the girl. Also notice that the solution bag is empty, or close to it, and is below the injection point on the arm. I may be wrong, but wouldn't you see blood flowing to the bag?

Ringo, the article states that they changed her outfit because they had to rush her to another hospital with neo natal care and that the SUV belonged to the Hospital manager.

Have a great day
 

donnaparadise

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For those who did not read the article, this explains the SUV and the cocktail dress, hopefully.

A miracle: the director agrees to loan his personal car — a white SUV with USAID stamped on the side. Joudeline is changed out of her bloody skirt into a clean, black cocktail dress. Two midwives walk her to the hospital gates and pull her into the back of the vehicle onto the lap of a friend.