{"id":166,"date":"2014-03-05T18:33:30","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T18:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/entremundosrevista.wordpress.com\/?p=166"},"modified":"2015-09-30T20:15:01","modified_gmt":"2015-09-30T20:15:01","slug":"midwives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/uncategorized-es\/midwives\/","title":{"rendered":"Midwives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emily Ellis<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"mujeres<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00bbWhen I was younger I had a dream about babies playing in the water,\u00a8says Maria Feliciana Chojolan Lopez, folding her hands complacently over her woven skirt. \u00a8Then I knew God was telling me what to do with my life. It was my destiny.\u00a8<\/span><\/p>\n

Maria has been a midwife in Cantel for over 20 years, and has never lost a baby or mother to birth-related complications \u2013 a record any licensed doctor would be proud of, but truly impressive when you consider that Maria has no formal medical training and usually works alone, with no tools other than medicinal plants and hot water.<\/p>\n

Although powerful women are often identified by their success in male-dominated occupations, some of the most skilled, tough, and generous women inhabit one of the most feminine vocations imaginable.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Midwifery is particularly essential in Guatemala, since the majority of births happen out of the hospital. This is due in part to the long distance to hospitals from villages, the high cost of medical services, and countryside\u00b4s wealth of medicinal plants. Maria knows that she can offer something to women that doctors cannot. \u201cA mother trusts me because I am from the community, I have helped deliver babies that she knows. We make the house nice, we pray, the whole family is there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenna Houston, E.D at Midwives for Midwives, has spent years working with midwives around Antigua, arranging apprenticeships between American and European midwifery students and Guatemalan comodronas<\/i>. She says that many people underestimate the importance of these women to Guatemalan communities.\u00a0 \u00a8The majority [ of midwives ] are dedicated angels to mothers and babies,\u00a8she says. \u00a8They do the best they can, given a lack of resources.\u00a8<\/p>\n

Since Guatemalan mothers will use the services of midwives no matter what, a recognition of their value and respect for their craft is essential to preventing infantile and maternal deaths from birth complications. \u00a8There are skilled knowledgeable midwives, and there are also women at high risk and many deaths could be prevented,\u201d Jenna explains. \u201cMidwives need more support from the public system and better training to those midwives that are under resourced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Offering further training and resources to women who are already skilled and knowledgeable can do nothing but benefit the medical community. There are some free training programs available for midwives, however;\u00a0 Maria travels to Quetzaltenango about once a week to take courses at Codicut, an organization that, in addition to training midwives, educates them on women\u2019s rights. Maria feels that the classes gives her pride in what she does, and pride in being a woman.\u00a0 \u201cWomen are more valuable than men, though, even though we are mistreated,\u201d she tells me with conviction. \u201cWe can give birth. We have more knowledge than men because men can\u2019t do what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Maria does is certainly fascinating; she describes a typically birth. \u201cFirst, I give the mother cinnamon tea heat and relax her body,\u201d she says. \u201cThen, I lay two hot water bottles on either side of her stomach, to help the baby come down straight.\u201d For those accustomed to the Western model of birth \u2013 and the machines, drugs, and army of nurses that go with it \u2013 Maria\u00b4s sparse but effective methods are particularly impressive. \u00a0Jenna, who has worked as a midwife since 1975, agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuatemalan midwives are brave and willing,\u201d she says. \u201cThey are the ones on the true front lines, never knowing what they may walk into.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I took my leave of Maria, she grinned and remarked wickedly, \u201cIf you get pregnant while you\u2019re in Guatemala, call me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Although I\u2019m not planning on it, I\u2019m sure I would be in good hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emily Ellis \u00bbWhen I was younger I had a dream about babies playing in the water,\u00a8says Maria Feliciana Chojolan Lopez, folding her hands complacently over her woven skirt. \u00a8Then I knew God was telling me what to do with my life. It was my destiny.\u00a8 Maria has been a midwife in Cantel for over 20 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized-es"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s7ljt7-midwives","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7189,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/environment\/benito-maria-the-frenchman-who-worked-for-indigenous-communities-in-guatemala-is-assassinated\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":0},"title":"Benito Mar\u00eda, the Frenchman who worked for Guatemala, is assassinated.","author":"Majo Recinos","date":"13 agosto, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"By EntreMundos\u00a0 Social and human rights organizations expressed their repudiation of the murder of Benoit Pierre Amedee Mar\u00eda, known as \"Benito\", who was a French citizen and lived in Guatemala for 20 years. 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