This month’s update from Genette, one of Midwives For Haiti’s instructors

In Haiti and other parts of the developing world, preeclampsia isn’t just a serious, but treatable complication of pregnancy.

Too often, cultural, educational and infrastructure challenges prevent women suffering with preeclampsia from accessing the life-saving healthcare they need. That’s why it’s among the top reason why women die from pregnancy-related complications in countries like Haiti. We asked Genette Thelusmond, 40, a former student, now instructor for the Midwives for Haiti (MFH) program, about her experiences treating mothers with preeclampsia and eclampsia. Here’s Genette’s story:

I have a lot of experience working with preeclamptic and eclamptic women. When I first started working as a midwife, I used to be scared. But over time and with more experience, I became more confident in working with eclamptic women. Many women with eclampsia come to the hospital here in Hinche. A lot of Haitian men and women have hypertension and inadequate diets. I believe those are the two primary causes of preeclampsia in Haiti.

Many Haitians believe preeclampsia means that a woman has epilepsy, is possessed, or has a curse placed on her by a local witch doctor or a conniving neighbor. They believe the only way to help a preeclamptic woman is to seek out a witch doctor. Witch doctors practice Voodoo, a common cultural and religious practice in Haiti. They rarely know anything of medicine, but charge customers a small fee for seeking out their services. When a preeclamptic woman asks a witch doctor for help, he might burn her skin or slap her in the belief that she is possessed.

That is why education is so important: to break down the traditional belief system and save lives. In order to help more women with preeclampsia, we need to build awareness. We need to educate not only the mothers that we care for, but also the families, local health leaders, and communities, particularly the matròns (traditional birth assistants) and witch doctors. If people can recognize the signs, they will know that they must send the ailing woman to the hospital.

I train matròns here in Hinche and have realized how much value and significance they carry. I recently told my matròn class that everyone needs to educate their friends and families and even the local witch doctors about the signs of eclampsia. I teach the matrons to recognize headaches, double or blurred vision, and chest pain as preeclamptic symptoms. In the hospital, the midwives use magnesium sulfate or diazepam to treat it. For hypertension, we treat our patients with hydralazine. [These are the same medications used in American hospitals too].

I was working a night shift when a couple of men walked in carrying a woman in a coma. The men said that they had just come from the witch doctor. The woman had already lost the baby, and her friends were afraid that she was near death. They decided the witch doctor was not helping and carried her to the hospital. We treated her for eclampsia and she survived.

Written by Genette Thelusmond