Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Betsy Wickstrom. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Betsy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?

Before we opened the maternity center, Maison de Naissance, we began by having volunteer college students survey the neighborhood about current access to healthcare in the area, as well as any concerns the community might have about opening a clinic in this village. Not long after, the huge semi truck hauling our furniture and supplies, donated from the US and shipped to Haiti in a shipping container, was making its way out to the rural location. It was rainy season, and roads in the area are basically mud, with potholes deep enough to swallow a small car (only exaggerating a little). About a quarter mile from the clinic building, which was still under renovation, the enormous truck was sunk axle deep in the mud. The entire community, from several villages nearby, came out to the road and made a human chain to carry heavy hospital beds, desks, shelving and supplies to the waiting building. It has been said that volunteerism is not a “thing” in Haiti, largely because people have so little they don’t believe they can share with others. That day, our community proved this idea wrong. Our neighbors showed that, even before Maison de Naissance opened, we were a part of them and they welcomed us.

Betsy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My medical training as a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist (high risk OB) qualifies me to care for patients with complicated pregnancies. For the past 30 years, in four different states, I have lived out this passion for improving health outcomes in pregnancy through consultation, ultrasounds, deliveries of babies, and surgical procedures. I thought I had completely fulfilled my purpose in (work) life through this career when, in 2003 I was invited to speak at a Haitian- American medical conference in Port au Prince. Besides giving multiple lectures and a workshop on obstetric ultrasound for the attendees of the conference, we (my friend and co-founder, Dr. Stan Shaffer who invited me to the conference) also went to the University Hospital in Port au Prince to teach the Ob/Gyn residents.

These bright, talented young physicians gave us a tour of their hospital where we passed by an “Eklampsie Ward” full of women who had suffered eclamptic seizures from untreated pre-eclampsia, most of whom delivered stillborn or premature babies who did not survive. When I asked why they weren’t delivered before they got so very ill, the residents explained that the patients didn’t come to the hospital until it was too late. When asked why they thought that was, our young colleagues had no answer. It was then I knew that the next chapter of my work life would involve helping women in Haiti have better access to prenatal care and safe deliveries.

Six months later, Dr. Shaffer and I returned to Haiti with a plan for what the ideal prenatal clinic would be like- breaking down barriers of access (cost, transportation), education about the importance of prenatal care, and quality care delivered with cultural competence. (These are called the “three delays” in sociologic studies). As we toured the country and visited established sites delivering prenatal care, no place was able to overcome all three of these barriers, so it was clear we were going to have to build our own clinic.

Through a series of miracles (and I don’t use that term loosely), the property where we would establish Maison de Naissance (“home of birth”) in rural, southern Haiti basically found us. We opened in 2004 with a staff of Haitian trained nurse midwives, and about 10 years later, we were able to accomplish our goal of being 100% Haitian staffed. Other guiding principles have included providing high quality, compassionate medical care that any of us would want to receive, efficient use of modern technology (electronic medical records, satellite and then wi-fi communication, solar energy), and community empowerment. Within about 5 years, local villages and towns were forming Health Committees to forward the health and hygiene messages we promote to their citizens, and meeting with the clinic administration to discuss how we can continue to improve our services and engage with them.

Because Haiti is Haiti, directly in the path of many tropical storms and hurricanes, and is also earthquake prone, our staff has had to be incredibly resilient and resourceful through their 18 years of operation. The periods of political unrest are not new, though the current situation with gang control of basically all services of the nation is the worst our team has ever seen. Through it all, these heroes continue to keep the doors open, welcoming mothers and babies at any time of the day or night. We at the Foundation (Global Birthing Home Foundation, which supports the clinic programatically and financially) are in AWE of these champions.

Over 18 and a half years, Maison de Naissance has delivered over 8000 patients, with NO maternal deaths- through expert, compassionate care and speedy, appropriate referral to a reference hospital when patient complications exceed the scope of pratice of our midwives. I have learned to be a fundraiser, an awareness raiser, a confidante in stressful times, a cheerleader, a provider of rare medications not available in the entire country, and, most of all, an enthusiastic devotee of the staff of Maison de Naissance.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When we first opened Maison de Naissance (MN) in 2004, we made all services 100% without charge- giving the care away for free. In my mind, this was breaking down the barrier of access due to cost, and was a “deal breaker” for me, even when donations were slim and finances were tight at the Foundation. It took the messaging from the Health Committees of our nearby villages to change my mind. The told our Administration we were INSULTING them by never allowing them to pay what they were able for care. This had never occurred to me, because, in my narrow-minded view, people must have better things to spend their meager earnings on than coming to a birthing home that was able to provide that care free of charge.

When a proposal came from our Clinical Director to make a scaled fee schedule, based on the (self selected) ability of our clientelle to contribute, I admit it took some convincing for me to agree. Now, we have improved the privacy of the check in process so that no patient has to be embarassed about what (or even if) she can pay, and the patient fees make up about 10% of the operating budget of MN.

By honoring the self- respect of our neighbors, the clinic and the clients BOTH won. And all I had to do was step out of the way.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Obviously, my medical background has been useful in creating clinical protocols, answering medical questions, procuring lab reagents and medicines that are not found anywhere in the country, and understanding the basic needs of such a program from the beginning.

However, the success of Maison de Naissance and its supporting Global Birthing Home Foundation is much more reliant on my passion for reaching new audiences for our story, determination to find the right staff for the right position both in the US and in Haiti, and growing thicker skin :). When fundraising, one faces a lot of “NO” before really making a connection with like minded donors who share a dedication to providing this essential, life-giving care. Then, when that connection is made, continuing to cultivate those relationships takes energy and focus which can be precious commodities in today’s fast paced, demanding world.

Success in the nonprofit world of international maternity care is measured by the lives we touch and the joy on the faces of new mothers holding their newborns for the first time. That’s priceless.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.globalbirthinghomefoundation.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHFound

Image Credits
Dr. Wicktrom portrait: Jennifer Welker Photography On site images from Maison de Naissance: MN Social Media Contributor Kolette Bury