"All women have the right to dignified health care."

I'm posting this email in its entirety. There is nothing that I can add to the information in this heartfelt request. The title of the post says it all. I've donated and I hope you do too. Thank goodness for women who care like Adina and midwives like Hannah. What a blessing to the world they are!! 


Hello Carolyn,

I read your natural birth blog, and really appreciate what you stand for. I live in a developing country,  Guatemala, where women are not educated about birth choices and many times they only have one option. Due to lack of money they go to the public hospitals where there is more than 70% C-section rate. Then, confronted with birth trauma, they search for any other option possible. Many of them find my midwife with Manos Abiertas, a clinic dedicated to helping these women have a natural birth.

 In a developed country, people have the luxury of forming a self-educated opinion on their preferred manner of giving birth, thankfully, and we are working towards making that an option in Guatemala.

 The clinic that helps mostly indigenous and low income Guatemalan women works on a sliding pay scale. This often means patients visit free of charge or pay much less than their visit costs, because most can't afford the $5 for a checkup. However, as anyone involved in midwifery knows, there are always numerous costs involved.

I am asking you to help by spreading the word via an interview with one of the only licensed midwives in Guatemala who has her own birth clinic: Hannah Freiwald. She explains the situation here: http://www.all-about-guatemala.com/registered-midwife-guatemala-interview.html

You could also help by spreading the news via blog story told here: http://sagaunscripted.blogspot.com/2011/06/birthing-options-in-guatemala-city.html

If you are able to make donations, thank you. If you are not, but you can spread their story, thank you! Every little bit helps.

If you can link to us on your blog or forum, more people will see and hopefully help. I am not a midwife. I am only a citizen who supports my midwife and who sees a very great need with the women of Guatemala. If nothing else, they need the power to choose their birth. They need the right and education to know and choose what happens with their own bodies. Together, we can make this an option.

Thank you,

Adina Barnett

Manos Abiertas

"All women have the right to dignified health care."