Return Home :: CASA :: family planning in the broad context of reproductive rights, environmental wellbeing, empowerment of women, and access to health-care and education

Please Help Us Scale Up Professionally Skilled, Culturally Sensitive Midwifery in Mexico and Central America



  • INVEST in our public/private partnership to open 4 new midwifery schools in Mexico & Guatemala (i.e. build a school & dormitories for $150,000; equip & run a teaching clinic for $50,000 a year; sponsor an indigenous student - $3,500/per yr.)
  • EDUCATE the public, government officials and medical professionals through national education campaigns
  • DEVELOP an international midwifery research and training center to continue to improve skills and education for midwives

    With 4 new midwifery schools and our educational programs in place, we will improve the lives of 6 million people each year:

    • 300 new midwives will provide health services to 750,000 individuals annually
    • A second tier of 500 to 1,000 health providers and officials will also be trained
    • Over 5 million people will have access to information through health education radio programming



    • At the CASA midwifery-run Hospital, low birth weight rate stands at 4.6% compared to 10.9% across Mexico; low birth weight is associated with health, cognitive and behavioral problems in children. The rate of Caesarian births at the Hospital is 13% compared to 35% in the state of Guanajuato overall; vaginal birth is the best option for mother and infant and cost efficient. Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health and UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science 2005/2006 evaluation of the curricula of medical & obstetric nursing schools in Mexico and CASA midwifery school has been published (Reprod Health Matters, Vol. 15, No. 30, 2007). CASA complies with 93% of internationally defined knowledge base for skilled birth attendant, as compared to 59% at nursing school and 60% at medical school. Only CASA requires clinical experience and proven competency for graduation, The Public Health Department of the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi has hired CASA midwife graduates and deploys them in rural areas where maternal mortality rates run rampant and poor, indigenous populations dominate. In 2005, the state received a national prize for their dramatic reduction in maternal mortality rates.


    Contact: Nadine Goodman at tel. 212 234 7940 or 917 748 2563; nadinemexico@aol.com; www.casa.org.mx

Midwifery News

Midwifery Students

Our 2005-6 class of students representing midwives-in-training from all over Mexico, as well as Europe


With 28 midwives already graduated, and this year's class of 29, CASA's School of Professional Midwifery is almost single-handedly preparing the next generation of midwives in Mexico. Beyond being the only government-accredited school of midwifery in Mexico, we offer a unique dual focus on traditional and modern methods, and biannual field experience in remote villages and communities, working with traditional, local midwives.

Successes

  • Mexico´s Inter-institutional Committee for the Formation of Health Resources has granted permission for graduates of the CASA Midwifery School to work in government facilities throughout Mexico, this has career opportunities in the field of health for women without access to traditional higher education.

     

  • Recognition by the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and the International Confederation of Midwives for creating a successful, replicable and useable model for midwifery worldwide.

     

  • CASA Midwifery School Graduates awarded commendations for lowering maternal mortality rates in the State of San Luis Potosi.

     

  • Dr. Arletty Pinel, Reproductive Health Chief of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), stated; "The CASA model - a professional, technical-level health career - fits the international search criteria for accessible alternatives as opposed to the promotion only of university-level health careers."

    •  

  • UNFPA invited CASA's midwifery team to travel to Tunisia in December 2006 to share its successful, collaborative and replicable model at a midwifery conference that was attended by twenty countries.

    • Testimonial

    Mother with Twins

    A Mother Holds Her Two Twins, Born Naturally with Our Midwives' Help

    “With my last pregnancy they told me that I had to have a C-section because I was carrying twins. But my community midwife told me to come to CASA to see the midwife Antonia. With the clear explanation, courage and confidence that she gave me, I could wait for my natural birth. Happily, I had my natural birth with the help of the CASA midwives.”

     

Contact Us <
Donate Now <
Get Involved <
Copyright CASA, A.C., Center for the Adolescents of San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mexico :: Web Info :: Return Home