Bridging Countries, Becoming Partners

Please welcome Dr. Maxene Cenatus back to Christ for All Hospital.  He has finished his OB/GYN residency and is now back at the mission serving as an amazing resource to the women of Haiti.  

The midwives are excelling and women from all parts of Haiti are coming to receive quality obstetrical care.  Praise God, we are making a difference!  I joined Dr. Maxene as well as an anesthesiologist from Port Au Prince in performing two difficult gynecologic surgeries. The first removing an extremely large ovarian cyst and the second being a partial hysterectomy for a very large fibroid uterus. In difficult cases, two heads are better than one and it was a great pleasure to partner with Dr. Maxene! The women did very well, recovered quickly, and had excellent care!

Too Small, Too Early

This October trip was as emotional as ever. The Labor of Love Project was launched with a team traveling to Haiti to bring supplies to the midwives and to help with gynecological surgery.  While there, a patient came in and very quickly delivered a baby over 6 weeks premature. Sweet Baby "Marie" was also very growth restricted and was extremely small weighing 1 pound 8 oz. Normal protocol back at home in the States is that the baby would be taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, She would have receive IV nutrition, oxygen, and the medical care needed to "catch up" on her weight and be healthy enough to return home to her family.  Haiti is another story.  

After wrapping the baby in plastic, blankets, and a hat to keep her warm we tried to transfer her to two hospitals.  Neither would accept her.  We were forced to bring her back to the mission to provide neonatal hospice care.  After hours of prayer, the Lord called Baby Marie home to her eternal life and her family in Heaven. Although we are making great strides in helping the women and children of Haiti, we are forever limited by access to medical supplies and care that are often taken for granted in the United States.  I praise and thank God that he is the ultimate healer and can help the Haitian people in ways I can only dream.

A Mother is Saved

On the third day of our February trip, another high risk patient was brought to the Formosa Obstetrics and Gynecology Center.  Her mother had brought her in because she was having "fits".  She was seizing due to dangerously high blood pressure and preeclampsia, or toxemia.  In the voodoo culture that is so prominent in Haiti, it was because of the bad spirits that she was unfit to bear children and she was so sick.  

After gathering emergency medications, and with the help of terrific Labor and Delivery nurses on the team, we were able to stabilize her blood pressure and stop the seizures.  However, her baby had passed away due to the placenta tearing away from the uterus. The next step would be to induce labor so she could deliver the baby that was gone. This procedure is so dangerous as the hospital doesn't have any blood products or advanced lab testing to see if the patient had a bleeding disorder or another complication from the preeclampsia. 

After several prayful hours, we delivered a beautiful girl angel.  

It was difficult to transverse great cultural differences when one loses a baby. There are so many babies that pass away in Haiti. Upwards of 50% of the children pass away in pregnancy or within the first year depending on where in the country they live.  The access to proper women's maternity care is just not prevalent.

So plants the seed for the Labor of Love Project to start. If with education and funding we can continue to save women like this, and hopefully provide them care to save their children, then the dream is realized and the goal comes to fruition.

Great Things Come in Pairs...or Twins!

The February 2011 visit was a true test of endurance and perseverance.  We were delayed in leaving Joplin, Missouri due to a blizzard leaving greater than 20 inches on snow on the roads and highways.  Having great faith that the team was supposed to be in Haiti, we waited for some of the snow to melt and flew out two days later than planned.

HCM seemed like an oasis upon our arrival.  Leaving record below zero temperatures and arriving in Haiti where the high was in the mid 80s it was a joyous break from the devastating winter we were experiencing in the states.

On the second day of our visit, the midwives called me to come over and evaluate a patient who was having "too big of a baby".  Upon examination and a quick ultrasound, we determined that it wasn't one big baby but rather twins! The first baby was positioned vertex, or head down, and the second baby was breech, or bottom first.  I discussed with the midwives that in the States this presentation was usually delivered by C-section.  However, the patient was fully dilated and was pushing despite us telling her we should do a c-section. Soon it became apparent that we would need to proceed with a normal delivery. After all, if there wasn't an obstetrician available, the midwives would have to do this delivery on their own.  The first baby delivered without difficulty once we aligned the baby to come out the birth canal.  Let the teaching begin!  With hands on experience I directed the midwives on how to deliver the second baby that was breech.  Of great concern was the baby's head.  If it was bigger than the rest of the body, we would be in grave danger that the baby would pass away if we couldn't get the baby out.  After a few nervous seconds, a sweet baby girl was born!  Praise God!  In knowing all the things that could have gone wrong, we were truly blessed that none of them did!

First Experience

Cheryl A. Fogarty, MD graduated from Creighton University School of Medicine in 1999. She then completed a four residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology.  While attending Creighton, she could hear Gods call to serve.  Little did she know that would bring her to Haiti.

Haiti had always seemed to be in the back of her mind and heart.  Then after the earthquake that changed the landscape of the country, she was drawn to the need to serve in Haiti.

Her first opportunity came in July 2010 traveling with Forest Park Baptist Church in her hometown of Joplin, Missouri.  After realizing that half her heart lives in Haiti, she returns every few months.

Still unsure of what her purpose would be there, she awoke just hours after her arrival to HCM to experience a fabulous Sunday church service.  Immediately following the service, she was asked to see a pregnant patient that was waiting at the hospital.

This frightened mother was brought to the HCM, Christ for All Health Center and the Formosa Obstetrics and Gynecology Center by her husband.  It was her first pregnancy.  She was 43 weeks pregnant and the baby was very large and breech.  Her husband had taken her to Port Au Prince for a c-section.  However, with funds to pay for the surgery, they were turned away and told to return if they had money or if the baby had died.  They came to the Center to see if the baby still had a heartbeat.  They were not aware that God had brought an Obstetrician to HCM just 12 hours before.

After happily listening to the baby’s heartbeat, the decision was made Dr. Fogarty and the team that came with her would perform HCM’s first c-section!  After writing down what were the absolute bear minimum of instruments and supplies to do the surgery, the team quickly rallied to sterilize the instruments and prepare the operating room for the procedure to come. The team’s first lesson was that God provided everything that is needed, not everything that is wanted!  But by the Grace a God a beautiful baby girl, later named Baby Cheryl, was brought into this world.  Having been three weeks overdue, this baby had no fluid surrounding it and had had bowel movement before delivery.  Both of these things significantly increased the risk of this baby have severe respiratory issues after birth.  Baby Cheryl was delivered and with her fabulous cry brought an entire operating room to tears.

This was the start of her mission to help the women and children of Haiti. 

The ultimate goal is to eliminate orphaned or unhealthy babies born in Haiti because there was a lack of accessible healthcare for mother and baby.