How traditional Colombian midwives work as interventions for rural communities | Health Issues

Quibdo, Colombia – Nohemí Manco was only 14 years old when she gave birth to her first child. He had no choice but to intervene.

His sister had gone into labor, and there was no one else. Their home, in the remote Colombian town of Unguía, is surrounded by a canopy of dense forests, waterfalls and wildlife.

But medical procedures were limited. So was emergency transportation, not that Manco could afford it.

However, Manco knew what to do. Ever since he was a child, he had seen his mother comforting mothers in the middle of humid nights and cold days.

They learned where to cut open the womb, how to prepare a tea to ease the pain, and how to care for the mother after birth. When his sister’s water broke, Manco felt ready to help.

I was not scared at all, although my sister was a little scared,” Manco recalled.

Forty years later, she estimates she has given birth to about 1,200 babies in the coastal department of Choco – possibly more.

“When the baby starts coming, it feels like the sunrise. Everything is dark, and it’s dawn,” said Manco, 53. When the baby arrives, it’s like joy and relief at the same time.

Manco is part of a long tradition of “parteras tradicionales” – traditional midwives – who play an important role in many remote villages in Colombia, especially among Afro-descendants and Indians.

Often the first step in antenatal care in these communities, midwives manage the pregnancy, attend the birth and provide post-natal care.

In some parts of Colombia, clinics can last hours or days. Isolation leaves many pregnant women and their newborns vulnerable to complications and limited medical care. This can lead to death.

“There is a high mortality rate, according to rural areas,” said Liany Katerine Ariza Ruiz, a public health researcher who works on women’s health at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá.

“So midwives are the biggest contributors to rural communities.”