In Canada, some women reserve the last days of pregnancy for rest and relaxation, last-minute decorating, lunch with a friend.

In Haiti, Meritane spent the last few days of her pregnancy in a crowded camp for earthquake survivors, in shock from a tragedy that killed many of her neighbors, relatives and friends.

Four days later, in that same camp, Meritane gave birth to twins. She had no shelter, no sterilized equipment and no medicine – only a husband who helped with the delivery.

 “I was not conscious when the second baby was delivered,” Meritane says. The family was cold, hungry and frightened.  As the quake aftershocks continued to rumble from the bowels of the earth, life became too painful to bear.

A reason to live

Today, Maritane looks down while holding her babies and finds another reason to live, although she still cannot smile. She talks in a low voice and you can sense a deep sadness from all that she has seen.
 
“God gave us these twins so that we can love them. I will live for them and I will take care of them,” says Meritane.
 
She says life is slowly improving. World Vision has provided tents for her and other women who have given birth in the camps to create a more appropriate environment for child care than the overcrowded makeshift shelters surrounding them. The tents are spacious and well lit.

Caring for moms and babies

To help women give birth, World Vision has distributed 150 maternity kits in the camp, with clean equipment to help with deliveries.

World Vision has also stationed a health clinic and installed pit latrines in the camp, to serve the 2,000 people currently living here. These facilities have tremendously improved the sanitation in camp. Families have also received cooking sets and plans are underway to bring clean drinking water to the camp.