“This is how I got into the Midwives For Haiti program… When I finished nursing school I loved working maternity and pediatrics. My husband collaborated with Manno (the House Manager) when MFH arrived in Hinche. My husband was the manager at Whitney Clinic and he was the one who talked to Manno and got midwives to come to Whitney Clinic. I was talking to Nadene and I told her how much I liked the midwives working at Whitney Clinic. Nadene asked me, “Do you want to be a midwife?” I was accepted into the program.

I had a teacher named Ms. Delva who encouraged me and pushed me to become a good midwife. I graduated with the second MFH class. We always collaborated together. Anytime someone was sick or had to be absent from class another person would give a report to the teacher and would help that person learn the information they missed. We worked with the first class and they would help us to learn information that was new.

So, we started doing the mobile clinic at 3-4 sites a month. Nadene chose me to be a mobile clinic midwife and Ms. Delva chose Ms. Philomene to be the first mobile clinic workers. We were asked by Father Jacque if we wanted to do mobile clinics all over the countryside. We knew there was such a big need in the rural countryside and that’s how we started doing mobile clinic. I love the mobile clinic and I’m used to it and I want to work there for a long time.

The patients are always so happy to see us when we come in the mobile clinic. Sometimes we have holidays or other reasons we cannot have a mobile clinic and the women will call us because they have such a need and they love how we treat them.

I love being a midwife! I like to communicate with the women. I love educating the women. There are many times where they come to us and we educate them and they tell us they never knew about what we teach them.

Last week I got to help the current class! CC (our Education Director) asked me to help the students learn blood work for patient exams. I had fun teaching them and when a group of students came on the mobile clinic recently I watched them and was so happy when they did properly just like I taught them! I enjoyed teaching the students in the classroom but I wouldn’t want to do it too much because I love being on mobile clinic. I was a school teacher before I was a nurse and it was fun but I like working as a midwife more. I like that I can teach the MFH students while I work the mobile clinic. My favorite teaching is when I get to educate the pregnant women who come to our mobile clinic.

The third Friday of March I was working at the hospital and a woman there said “Ms! Ms! Ms!!! Can you come to help me?” I went over to the woman and she was not ready to deliver but I worked with her and smiled and treated her with compassion. It is my favorite story because as soon as I came into the room the woman called me because she trusted me. When I’m encouraging a mother I am so happy, but I also sweat a lot!”

–Magdala Jean, staff midwife and graduate of Midwives For Haiti Class 2

Magdala provides pre and postnatal care to 500-800 women in 22 villages a month with the Mobile Prenatal Clinic. When you support the Mobile Prenatal Clinic , you are directly empowering her to provide quality and respectful care to the most vulnerable women. Your donations literally save lives.