In Guatemala, most women do not have access to compassionate and quality maternity care. Traditional midwives who may tend to treat women in a more compassionate way, often do not have any medical training to be able to manage birth complications. Public hospitals, on the other hand, that may have physicians available to treat complications often are difficult for women to travel to and treat women very poorly. Private maternity care providers are not accessible to the majority of women due to extreme poverty.
The goal of this maternity ministry is to offer a location that provides quality AND trauma-informed care both when medical intervention is necessary as well as when care is provided by a midwife in uncomplicated births. The maternity center will be a place where women will find care balanced in addressing their physical, emotional, social and spiritual need.
Current research tells us that beginning at conception, environment and experiences affect healthy development. With this in mind, in addition to creating an environment that promotes healing and health for the women giving birth, our goal is to create a program that promotes positive factors needed for healthy child development in their babies. The hope of this maternity ministry is that by improving the prenatal care, birth experience, and parenting education and support of pregnant women at risk we can have a long-term positive impact on the health of future generations.
What is the significance of the name Esperanza Naciente?
Esperanza Naciente means rising hope. The adjective “naciente” comes from the same root as the verb “nacer” which means to be born. My heart for this maternity ministry is that it will be a place where a new generation is birthed into hope. A center where instead of fear and trauma, that are often associated with birth in this country, women will find hope and healing through their pregnancy and birth experiences. A place where each woman that walks through the doors will feel loved, valued, supported, and empowered.
What is the mission of Esperanza Naciente?
Mission: to provide trauma sensitive, evidence based, and holistic prenatal, pregnancy, postpartum and early childhood care for young mothers at risk and their infants.
Vision: We will pursue excellence in trauma sensitive care by engaging local medical professionals with trauma informed care training and secondary trauma support, by honoring cultural practices that create felt safety, by collaborating with local mental health care providers to empower women to express their wishes and needs during their prenatal care and birth, and by implementing the 6 key principles of trauma informed care (as defined by SAMHSA) in our practices and protocols
We will pursue excellence in evidence-based care by regularly updating our practices and protocols based on current research, by providing comprehensive care on site to maintain continuity of care and equal access to quality care, and by providing continuing education for our staff.
We will pursue excellence in holistic care by acknowledging the long-term impact that the birth experience has on both mother and baby, by providing emotional support in addition to medical care during pregnancy and birth, by offering ongoing education
