From HHF...

WATCH HHF ON PBS TOMORROW NIGHT!!!

Dear HHF Supporter,

Amidst the tireless planning and relief work that Haitian Health Foundation employees and volunteers are providing to the thousands of people fleeing Port-au-Prince, we are reminded that we also continue our mission of nearly 30 years to the people who were already living in our area prior to the earthquake. Among HHF's food and nutrition, education, housing, and other programs for the people of Jérémie and its surrounding 100+ villages, HHF provides prenatal programs and emergency evacuations to pregnant mothers in the far reaches of the Grand'Anse.

At the time of the earthquake, we were just a few days into a week-long visit by the award-winning PBS program NOW, led by documentarian Mary Olive Smith and crew. Although the earthquake cut short their shooting schedule, amazingly they have already produced a final piece—called Saving Haiti's Mothers—that will air on PBS's NOW program this Friday, January 29, at 8:30 pm in many markets. (The actual air time varies city by city, so click here to determine the scheduled time in your city.)

I hope you will take the time to view this documentary to observe the work that you are helping to support. Scores of pregnant women have come from Port-au-Prince—and already we've had reports of some of them giving birth in Jérémie upon their arrival! This is just one of the programs that HHF is proudly gearing up in order to assist the thousands of people who are being added to our catchment area for the long term.

Thank you for your support of this vital maternal and infant health program—and all of HHF's programs for the people of the Grand'Anse. And please keep our neighbors in Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.

Jeremiah J. Lowney, Jr., DDS, MPH

Founder and President
Haitian Health Foundation

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From PBS:

Haiti's catastrophic earthquake, in addition to leaving lives and institutions in ruin, also exacerbated a much more common and lethal emergency in Haiti: Dying during childbirth. Challenges in transportation, education, and quality health care contribute to Haiti having the highest maternal mortality rate in the Western Hemisphere, a national crisis even before the earthquake struck.

While great strides are being made with global health issues like HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality figures worldwide have seen virtually no improvement in 20 years. Worldwide, over 500,000 women die each year during pregnancy.

On Friday, January 29 at 8:30 pm (check local listings for your specific area), a NOW team that had been working in Haiti during the earthquake reports on this deadly but correctable trend. They meet members of the Haitian Health Foundation (HHF), which operates a network of health agents in more than 100 villages, engaging in pre-natal visits, education, and emergency ambulance runs for pregnant women.

The United Nations Population Fund, which trains midwives to share life-saving birth techniques, says that with proper funding, public support, and wider application of simple but scarce innovations, such deaths could be reduced by nearly 70%.

As humanitarian attention on Haiti slowly fades, the issue of maternity mortality remains as imperative as ever. But with an estimated 63,000 women in Haiti currently pregnant—and a main midwife training school devastated by the earthquake—the mission of keeping mothers alive has never been more daunting.

NOW co-produced this program with the Bureau for International Reporting.