This is a photo of a Haitian midwife by the name of Bien Amie Guerlie. She is using parts of the Maternova obstetric pak--the solar powered headlamp and the WHO Colour Scale to detect anemia. Bien Amie was part of the first graduating class of midwives trained by Midwives for Haiti. The midwives are being trained for deployment in the area around Hinche in mobile clinics and in the local hospital. What has become clear is that the Maternova obstetric paks are both a clinical tool--but also an added safety kit for midwives who are traveling alone in remote areas.

One of the most insidious conflicts in international health is the tension between providing realistic solutions based on available resources (sometimes called 'appropriate technologies') and the sentiment expressed to Paul Farmer by a Haitian priest: “Do you know what “appropriate technology” means? It means good things for rich people and shit for the poor” (Infections and Inequalities, 21). There is a constant struggle between developing scalable technologies that will effectively improve health in low-income countries and falling into the trap of developing second-rate solutions for the world’s poor.

This post is the third in the series of blogs on the LifeWrap (see post 1 and post 2). This remarkable first-aid device is used to stabilize women with obstetric hemorrhage who might otherwise die from their pregnancy or childbirth complications. The LifeWrap, or non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG) is like a giant wetsuit that is velcro-fastened around a woman who is hemorrhaging to reduce bleeding and reverse shock, buying time to get her to a higher level treatment.