Meet Marie Antoinette Helen Jeune, Assistant Midwife at Mother Health International

Over the next few weeks our blog will feature the wonderful MHI team on the ground in Jacmel, Haiti. Your financial contributions help support the salaries of these team members. Thank you. Each person has been asked to write up a short story describing themselves and the work they do. Enjoy!

Marie Antoinette Helen Jeune

Assistant Midwife, Translator
Mother Health International birth clinic in Jacmel, Haiti

Marie Antoinette Helen Jeune

Marie Antoinette Helen Jeune

Marie, Melinda and a beautiful mother on prenatal day at the clinic.

I am Marie Antoinette Helene Jeune. I was born in 1981 in  Jeremie in the area of the grand Anse in the south of Haiti. I have a son who is five years old. I have been working with MHI as a translator and now I am studying to become a midwife. I am a Haitian woman coming from a long line of strong women. My people were brought here to Haiti as slaves from America in 1503. In 1804 we got our freedom. My people bought our freedom for $90 million in 1825 from France. I want to become a traditional midwife so that I can work for my country and this clinic.

I have the patience to be a midwife. The MHI birth clinic provides very good care to the women in my community during their pregnancy, birth and postpartum. The focus of a midwife is on natural methods for pregnancy, birth and postpartum care. I recognize the difference in care when I see a doctor attend a birth; it is not the same thing that we do as midwives when we work with birth and women. I am talking about the pitocin used routinely in birth in Haiti, and the other drugs that make the it very hard for the mamma and the baby. I see the way a midwife works with birth. She makes the women comfortable during labor using massage, and uses movement such as traditional dancing during birth. My passion is to become a midwife and make a difference in women’s lives. The first time I came here to work was at the beginning when Bumi Sehat started the clinic. Now the clinic is under new leadership and is Mother Health International, and when I first came here I did not know anything about natural birth. When I saw the way the birth clinic treated women, I felt so good and love within myself. I loved the pregnant women and this work. I massaged them, give them some ideas to make them happy during labor, create some dancing steps to relax the woman so she would not be afraid. One day when I was working with Kelly, I said I want to share some ways with the the mother to make her happy, to make her dance and laugh. Kelly said to me, “Yes Marie, the woman will be very happy that you do with her her." I felt so happy inside in myself, I knew that I was a midwife and not every one else knew, but I knew.

One time while a woman was laboring she asked me, “Oh marie mwen kapab fe pa sa y o wap tiye nou avan bebe sa sa fet.” (Oh Mary I can’t do these steps, you are killing me before my baby is born.” I said no, never quit, do not be discouraged. I am here and I will support you to make the steps.” She answered me afterward her baby was born, “Oh Mary I love you and sometimes when she looks at me and our eyes are together and we are connected.”

MHI midwifery model of care is a good model for Jacmel because it is hard to find good care for pregnant women. We are kind here, we treat the women with respect. The families come to the clinic and they are very happy because their women are finding good care in the clinic. The families tell me why wasn’t this clinic here before. They asked me, “Why are you working this work of midwifery? You treat us well, like the foreign midwife, are you a midwife?” They tell me I will become a great midiwfe and that makes me feel good. I hear them say, “You know Mary this clinic is very good, it is giving good care and you especially. If the foreign midwives leave you will be there here to help us. Stay strong, do not change your behavior.”

Some of the women and families ask me who are the midwives that come here, where do they come from. I explain to them they are midwives and come after the time of the earthquake to work in Haiti but they come and they plan to help the women and pregnancy for care. I explain, the damage of the earthquake brought the midwives.

I never thought about birth much before I worked here. In 2004 I was pregnant with son, my mom wanted me to follow a midwife and she gave me all the natural medicine. I was as 23 yrs old and the midwife checked positions of my baby but I never knew what she was doing and was very afraid when she touched my belly. My mom said there is not difference between the midwife and doctor. She told me to accept the midwife, let the midwife do her work, let her give me natural medicine and check my baby. When I was in labor, I lost my mucous plug. The midwife checked me and said the baby was ready to be born. My mom said to me, "Let her help you birth and I told my mom no and she said it was my decision. So we went to the hospital. She said that I would see the difference between a midwife and a doctor. I told her “I do not know but I told her that I trust the doctor.” If I was to have another baby again I of course I would do it with the midwife. 

We are working as midwives and as professionals and rarely we to bring a mother or baby to the hospital. But if we bring a baby or a mother to the hospital we treat them with respect and they will treat us with respect. The families are very satisfied, 100%, with the care that the clinic gives to the women. They like the way the midwives treat the women, very natural. There are some families that have told me that hospital, even if the woman is having a normal pregnancy and labor with no complications, that they make problems for the mother and baby. That means that they will cut the women (episiotomy or c-section). They said to me it is not the same as when we work with a midwife to do the birth. I met a lot of the girls and families telling me often the way the midwife  works because it is natural, and it is better for the birth of the baby.

First, when a woman comes to me in labor, we share some ideas with the woman and get to  know each other in labor. You can tell the woman some jokes to make her laugh and help her not stress and help her not be afraid. For the dance for the birth, I make the woman understand that it is not a game, it is to help the woman relax and help the baby get into position. Sometimes I create some steps to show the women to be relaxed, to be happy,to be laughing with me or smile with me. I explain to the women the baby wants love even when the baby is inside of his/her mom. I tell the women, let the baby know that they are something special and that everyone is going to receive them with a lot of love. This is throughout a woman's pregnancy, I explain to the baby everybody is waiting for the baby and will receive them with love. The baby needs the love.

Marie Antoinette, Haitian Assistant Midwife

(This was slightly edited to assist with the translation.)