Guest blog by Lee-Anne Lavell – an Red Crosser working in Nicaragua . From Halifax, Nova Scotia, Lee-Anne will spend five months in Nicaragua working on a mother and child health program.
One morning my supervisor and I met with Fidelia, the nurse at the Maternal House Luz y Vida in Esteli. A maternal house - or casa materna in Spanish - is usually located in an urban area near a hospital. Pregnant women from rural communities can come to stay here close to their due date so that they can be near the hospital. The casa maternas are most commonly overseen by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (MINSA) and are also supported by other institutions - including the municipality and Red Cross.
One of the goals of Proyecto Enlace, a project implemented by the Nicaraguan Red Cross, is to reduce maternal mortality by encouraging births in medical institutions. The Red Cross therefore encourages the use of casa maternas as a means of increasing the accessibility of medical services.
As we toured the facilities – examination rooms, a closet-sized office, and a kitchen – Fidelia explained the set-up to me. There is a part-time nurse and a doctor visits at least a few days every week. There is always someone on staff. There is also a housekeeper who cooks and cleans, and the women pitch-in with house duties as well.
Women can arrive at the casa materna as early as 15 days before their scheduled due date, and if needed, can stay up to 15 days after delivery. They are often referred by a doctor or nurse. Arriving can be quite an undertaking, depending on the distance between the casa materna and their community, the conditions of the roads, and the means available to get there. Many women will take the bus, or even walk.
We stepped into one of the bedrooms, lined wall-to-wall with single beds. Although this doesn’t happen all the time, Fidelia explained that an extra bed is made on the floor if they run out of beds. In Nicaragua, although it’s not an ideal solution to have a client sleeping on the floor, at least everyone has access to the services offered at the casa materna.