Care for yourself and Care for children in need…

By Laura Firetag, ND Student, Bastyr University
While I usually write about interesting research, I would like to take the opportunity this month to blog about something very exciting that involves several of my friends here at Bastyr University.  During spring break over 20 members of the Naturopaths Without Borders club at Bastyr University will be traveling to Haiti to provide healthcare to the people who are still suffering after the earthquake that occurred over one year ago.  The naturopathic and midwifery students will be working at the MamaBaby Haiti naturopathic clinic in Northern Haiti near Cap Haitien.  According to their website, MamaBaby Haiti ‘staff(s) and maintain(s) a free standing birth center and health clinic.. (that)  ..serve(s) as a safe and clean place for women to come for free quality health care from midwives and naturopathic doctors. We provide prenatal, birth, postpartum, and pediatric care, as well as education and other life-saving services. We provide care 24/7. Women come to the clinic weekly for prenatal care and children and families show up for needed healthcare. We also go to surrounding villages weekly to provide prenatal care and village healthcare for families. We teach mothers and families about prenatal health and nutrition, hygiene, childbirth education, breastfeeding education with the goal of exclusive breastfeeding for a minimum of one year, contraception methods, and sustainable living (including herbal health remedies, gardening and raising chickens). We have started a garden at our birth center that will be used as an example for gardening fruits, vegetables and medicinal herbs. We collaborate with Haitian midwives and midwifery students to reduce the maternal, fetal and neonatal mortality rate in Haiti. We feel we will all benefit from learning from each other and serving the women together in safe and gentle birth.’ 

My friends sent out emails requesting donations for their trip which I forwarded to Innate Response Formulas.  Innate was very generous and put together a program called ‘Care for Care’ during the month of February.  Innate donated a bottle of their ‘Kids’ Multi’ for EVERY supplement purchased by Bastyr students.  I was able to send nearly EIGHTY bottles to Haiti with the Bastyr brigade because Innate Response Formulas donated an extra fifty bottles of multivitamins.  I am grateful for the brave physicians who are staffing the clinic in Haiti, I am grateful for the amazing Bastyr students who are spending their spring breaks learning to take care of the suffering and I am also grateful that I work for such a kind and generous company.  If you want to learn more about NWB or MamaBaby Haiti, please follow the links below: