Meeting a Guatemalan Midwife

For our weekly group conference, we got the pleasure of hearing from a Guatemalan woman named Berta who has been delivering babies in Xela for 24 years. This conference was particularly interesting because she told us about the therapy, plants, bathing rituals, and massages that she uses to take care of the mother, the delivery, and her newborn baby afterward. Midwives are particularly important in Guatemala because of the less than satisfactory treatment of pregnant women in hospitals. The hospitals in Guatemala (if there is even access) are overwhelmed with pregnant women and therefore, 80% of all deliveries happen in the home.

Berta and other midwives are so involved with the women in their community. They consult with women when they have irregular menstruation, when women think they may be pregnant and of course throughout a woman’s pregnancy (if it’s a normal pregnancy, every month). Berta has very interesting methods. She observes the woman laying down (her breasts, vagina, eyes, etc.) to determine the pregnancy. She also makes teas out of plants like chamomile to alleviate intestinal gas, corn “hair” to cure vaginal infections, “pimpinella” to strengthen contractions (has a natural form of oxytocin, the contraction hormone), and “milenrama” to prevent hemorrhages.

Another important part of a Guatemalan midwife’s treatment is massages and bathes. She massages every part of a woman (her arms, breasts, stomach, legs, etc.) after the pregnancy to relax the woman and help with the discharge of the placenta. She even did a demonstration of this massage with Judy (a girl in my group).

I learned a lot by listening to Berta talk. What’s wonderful about her is that she gives very complete care to the woman and her baby. Berta always looks out for more serious medical problems in pregnancy (like ectopic pregnancy or a baby in the wrong position in utero) but sadly, she is not allowed into the hospital with the mother. Hopefully someday, doctors and midwives can work together (which in limited cases they do) both in Guatemala and the States, because together, I think the care of a pregnant woman is much more complete and safer.