Project Report
| Jul 18, 2012
Midwives Eagerly Prepare for Upcoming Meeting
By Erica Hellerstein | Project Leader
We just received an exciting update from our partners at Midwives for Peace! They are busy planning for their next meeting later this month, where they will exchange tips, stories, midwifery courses and more!
Midwives for Peace trains midwives to deliver babies safely, despite the conflict that surrounds them. Midwives from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian border come together regularly to attend workshops to share midwifery techniques. Their efforts so far have improved the lives of hundreds of women and babies on both sides of the conflict.
At this month’s meeting, they will attend a special workshop with an emphasis on nursing for newborn infants. They are looking forward to learning from the course’s instructor, a bilingual Arabic-Hebrew neonatal nurse with years of experience.
These regular meetings offer a rare respite from struggle and conflict, and they couldn’t happen without your support. Please stay tuned for a full report back soon!
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Apr 20, 2012
A New Ultrasound Machine for Palestinian Midwives!
By Erica Hellerstein | Project Leader
We just received an update from our sister organization, Midwives for Peace! They sent us news about their recent meeting, which brought together 15 Palestinian and Israeli midwives to exchange their knowledge and expertise.
This was a special meeting, thanks to the support you provide through MADRE. They brought Halla, one of their members from the West Bank, a new ultrasound machine!
Halla is preparing to open a new birthing center soon, and this ultrasound machine will be crucial to making sure that mothers in the West Bank can give birth safely. The Israeli military has destroyed or barricaded thousands of roads there, making it difficult for Palestinian women who are in labor to reach hospitals. Halla’s birthing center will be a vital alternative.
“We thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” said the midwives. “It feels so good to know we have partners who care and work hard for us…You are in our minds and in our hearts!”
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Jan 20, 2012
Empowering Birth Experiences Last a Lifetime
By Erica Hellerstein | Project Leader
MADRE partners with Midwives for Peace, a grassroots group of Palestinian and Israeli midwives who share a commitment to safe childbirth practices and to peace.
We just received an update from our sister organization, Midwives for Peace! They sent us news about their recent meeting in a town near Jerusalem, which brought together 18 Palestinian and Israeli midwives.
These regular meetings serve as a rare opportunity for Palestinian and Israeli midwives to join in friendship amidst conflict. They discuss women’s health, offer support and empower one another.
This meeting included an important conversation about a midwife who ran a birthing center in a rural area in the northern West Bank. The local birthing center that offered crucial women-centered obstetric care was shut down.
With the support of MADRE, Midwives for Peace are planning to reopen a local home-based birthing center to meet the urgent need for midwifery care in these communities.
One midwife said, “We believe that empowering birth experiences lasts a lifetime. We would like to do our part to provide more women with the opportunity to benefit from the high quality care that we can provide.”
The next meeting is scheduled for March, and we look forward to sharing more updates!
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