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For Immediate Release
Contact: Diana Duarte, Media Coordinator,Phone: +1 212 627 0444,Email:,media@madre.org

Haiti: Women's Health Delegation Working to Provide Pregnant Women with Critical Support

WASHINGTON

Several teams of MADRE-supported health workers
are still on the ground in Haiti. Two new volunteers arrived yesterday.
The medical volunteers are working out of a local clinic and treating
350 patients each day. The women's health teams are seeing about 50
women every day, many of whom are pregnant and are complicated cases.

UNFPA estimates that around 15 percent of the 63,000 pregnant women in Haiti will have life-threatening complications. For the 7,000 women due to give birth this month, the risk is even higher.

In
order to meet the needs of the women coming to the clinic, the
volunteers are working to train the clinic staff on a variety of topics
related to women's health. Midwives for Haiti has identified two
Haitian midwives who will be able to take over the responsibilities of
the women's health clinic for the longterm.

The volunteers (in
collaboration with UNFPA) have completed the Rapid Health Assessment to
identify the most pressing women's health needs. The assessment will
provide relief agencies with vital information about what women's
health needs that are still not being met.

MADRE is an international women's human rights organization that partners with community-based women's groups to advance women's human rights, challenge injustice and create social change in contexts of war, conflict, disaster and their aftermath. MADRE advocates for a world in which all people enjoy individual and collective human rights; natural resources are shared equitably and sustainably; women participate effectively in all aspects of society; and all people have a meaningful say in policies that affect their lives. For more information about MADRE, visit www.madre.org.