This is a personal, From The Field story by Andrew McCalla, Direct Relief’s Emergency Response Manager. We arrived at the small medical clinic in Petit Trou de Nippes about five hours after we left Port-au-Prince that morning. The distance is only 75 miles but the unpaved roads, traffic, and small lakes and rivers we had to drive through to get
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Aberdeen Women’s Center, Freetown, April 21 We hope that Act Three never arrives. We work hard in Acts One and Two – training and equipping midwives and improving emergency obstetric care – so that mothers can experience a safe pregnancy and the health of their newborn. But at present time, we cannot draw the curtain after only two acts, and
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Lindsey Pollaczek Medical Research Center, Tonkolili and Bo Districts, April 19-20 About 15 percent of all deliveries will be complicated and will require emergency obstetric care. Many complicated cases can be managed at a lower level facility if the skilled birth attendant is trained in the management of basic emergency cases and has the tools they need to do their
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By Lindsey Pollaczek, Program Officer Sierra Leone has one of the highest reported maternal death rates in the world. In 2005, the maternal mortality ratio was 2,100 deaths per 100,000 live births and a woman’s lifetime risk of dying due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth was 1 in 8. Long distances to health facilities, the cost of health services,
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Halfway through my trip to Haiti this week, my wife sent me an email saying that if our baby was born today, he would have a 90 percent chance of survival. I found that incredible, given that Melissa just entered the third trimester of her pregnancy last week. Obviously, we hope that we won’t have to worry about an early
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Santa Barbara, CA and Washington, D.C.—The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and Direct Relief International today announced an additional $1 million in grants to five Japanese nonprofit groups coordinating relief efforts and providing services for the most vulnerable people affected by the earthquake and tsunami. $1 million in cash from the JACL-Direct Relief Japan Relief and Recovery Fund will be
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