Title: Helping to feed pregnant women and lower maternal and infant mortality in Intibucà, Honduras
Location: El Albergue, Hospital Enrique Aguilar Cerrato, Honduras
Duration: Continue the project in full through next year (through May 2008). A new Albergue should be constructed by the end of that time, and it will include a garden to be maintained by the women. The project will be reevaluated at that time.
Amount requested: 3,747 lempira a month = $200 USD a month
Breakdown of costs:
2.5 kg of powdered whole milk = approximately 282 lempira
3 lbs of cheese at 32 lempira/lb = 96 lempira
15 lbs of red beans at 6 lempira/lb = 90 lempira
7 lbs of rice at 6 lempira/lb = 42 lempira
2 cartons of eggs (30 eggs per carton) at 46 lempira per carton = 92 lempira
20 avocados at 7 lempira per avacado = 140 lempira
10 lbs of peanuts at 15 lempira/lb = 150 lempira
The food prices fluctuate with season and food availability in the town center and the prices are subject to change.
Project Goals: Improve nutritional status of Honduran women in the last stages of pregnancy, just before they deliver. Educate the women on nutrition during pregnancy, family planning methods, breastfeeding, and infant and child nutrition. Attract women to stay at the Albergue and deliver at the hospital and thereby lower the incidence of extra-hospital maternal mortality in Intibucà and surrounding regions of Honduras. Develop the skills of community public service students.
Project Description:
The Albergue is a shelter located within the La Esperanza hospital grounds built for the purpose of lowering maternal mortality in Intibucà and surrounding regions of Honduras. Pregnant women may stay at the Albergue during their last month of pregnancy for a one-time charge of ten lempiras. By living at the Albergue during their final stages of pregnancy women who live far from the hospital and in areas inaccessible by emergency vehicles guarantee that they can deliver at the hospital where any delivery complications can be quickly addressed. There are usually between 10 and 25 women at the Albergue. The women who come to the Albergue live in extreme poverty and, prior to the nutrition program, were often hungry while waiting to go into labor. The most immediate effect of the program is decreasing the number of women who go into labor hungry and weak. The program is not a simple food delivery but rather one that combines the provision of nutritious foods with education and community development. When the food is delivered, "charlas" on nutrition during pregnancy, family planning methods, sexually transmitted diseases, breastfeeding, and infant and child nutrition are also given. The food provided is from four food groups that are important during pregnancy. Calcium is provided by the milk and cheese. Iron is provided by the beans. Protein is provided by the eggs, powdered milk, and the rice when eaten as a complimentary protein to the beans. Folic Acid is provided by the avocados and peanuts. Women are educated on these four types of foods and their importance during pregnancy, and then given literal practice in preparing and consuming the foods. While the women at the Albergue are in the last stages of a pregnancy, it is hoped that these women will share this information with other women in their pueblos and retain the information for future pregnancies. Further, the Honduran government provides prenatal vitamins only for women during the first 6 months of the pregnancy, when the vitamins are most important. Therefor, the women at the Albergue, in their last month of pregnancy, receive a great benefit from the nutritious elements found the program's foods. The educational talks provide an opportunity for both casual and frank discussions of birth control methods and sexually transmitted diseases and allow for questions about breastfeeding, and infant and child nutrition to be answered and misconceptions corrected. Discussing birth control options before delivery increases the women's receptiveness to offers of the intrauterine device or the sterilization operation at the hospital prior to leaving. The number of children that women have and the number that they want are discussed as well as the dangers of having large number of children or closely spaced pregnancies. Lastly, the food delivery aspect of the program helps attract other women to the Albergue and encourages them to deliver in the hospital. Twelve women from Intibucà died giving birth outside the hospital during 2006. And while these women shared many risk factors one of the most obvious was that they delivered at home. Attracting women to the Albergue and to having their children at the hospital will help to lower this number. Additionally, the women who died tended to be over the age of 35, have between 5 and 18 children, and have less than 2 years since their last delivery. All of these risks are discussed in the "charlas"given at the Albergue. The program also helps to develop the skills of high school students who are studying public service and doing community service at the hospital. These students have observed the program and given the "charlas" in the event of the director's absence. They have also developed their own "charla" on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Total amount requested: 200 USD per month for one year (June 2007-May 2008)
Amount already raised: 100 USD per month for the year.
Amount remaining: 100 USD per month
