25/05/2020
We need to do better, Guatemala.
Last night I went to the hospital with a client in labor only to be told that the policy changed about 30 hours prior to our arrival and doulas are no longer allowed into the hospital. My client had chosen to give birth at because they have been welcoming to doulas and more supportive of natural birth processes compared to other private hospitals in Guatemala City. But no longer. A surge in COVID cases has caused them to change their policy. Doulas are not considered essential. Only one immediate family member allowed and that’s it.
I sat in the waiting room through the night (because this weekend we are on total lockdown and I needed to wait for a letter from the doctor to get me through the police checkpoints in order to get home). As morning came I watched people stroll in through the doors of the hospital — security guards, receptionists, doctors, nurses, janitors — all essential to the care of the mothers giving birth. As a US-trained labor and delivery nurse I knew that if I had been entering that hospital as one of the hospital’s nurse I would have been deemed essential. But wearing my doula hat I was no longer essential.
As I sat there infuriated that my client was not getting the care that she had so much desired, I realized that we can’t just blame COVID on depriving women of adequate support during labor and birth.
Did you know that in public hospitals in Guatemala City the situation is much worse? Long before this pandemic women giving birth in the public hospitals in Guatemala City have NOT been allowed even ONE support person with them — not even a father, grandmother, sister, friend or partner. Every woman must give birth alone ... but not alone, rather in a room full of other women laboring, and struggling through their own labor. No privacy and no support. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first baby and you’re 14 years old — you give birth in the presence of strangers.
Doulas are essential. And we can’t blame COVID for depriving women of quality and respectful care.
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![[Repost from the amazing mama ]. This time last year I was not sure how I’d be able to survive breastfeeding for 6 month...](https://img3.findhealthclinics.com/132/830/495868531328302.jpg)
