Haitian Women's Collaborative Project Update

This past September, IMR returned to Haiti for our third trip this year continuing our pelvic surgery training initiative: the Haitian Women's Collaborative Project. This trip was full of many highlights including operating on 15 patients alongside our Haitian colleagues and students, introducing our new volunteer Amaris Lunde to our care team in Haiti, being interviewed by Radio Television Caraibes, and an invitation for our Executive Director Dr. Ambereen Sleemi to join the Haitian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (SHOG) as an honorary member.

The week started at St. Boniface Hospital in southern Haiti, operating and caring for women with pelvic organ prolapse (a condition where one or more of the pelvic organs like the uterus or bladder drop to or through the vagina), vesicovaginal fistulas (a hole that forms in the vaginal wall), and more. Since 2014, we've worked with Haitian OB/GYN resident physicians at St. Boniface, National, and Croix des Bouquet Hospitals as part of their training program to increase their surgical skills. Our focus continues to be on improving a surgeon’s skills using a minimally invasive approach that leads to fewer complications and quicker recovery for our patients and implementing initiatives to increase patient safety in the Operating Room. IMR volunteer Amaris Lunde, a Nurse Practitioner from Portland, OR, assisted and trained Haitian nurses caring for patients in the post-operative period. Senior OB/GYN resident physicians from Port au Prince joined us for the week for training. We then traveled to Port au Prince, joining our longtime local partner Dr. Batsch. Together, we operated on women with obstetric fistula (a hole that forms between the vaginal wall and rectum or bladder due to prolonged, obstructed labor), again focusing on surgical techniques, patient safety, perioperative care and more.

Dr. Batsch and Dr. Sleemi with Radio Television Caraibes

In between their busy schedule operating on patients, Dr. Batsch and Dr. Sleemi were interviewed by Radio Television Caraibes, one of the oldest and most popular Haitian broadcasters, about maternal health, birth complications and obstetric fistula. Many women with fistulas and other pelvic floor disorders suffer silently so the chance to inform the public about these devastating conditions was an opportunity not to be missed. We continued our campaign to raise awareness by meeting with UNFPA Haiti (United Nations Populations Fund) to discuss how to assess prevalence of fistula and pelvic floor disorders in Haiti.

Finally, we would like to congratulate Dr. Sleemi, our Executive Director, who received an official invitation to be an honorary member of the Haitian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (SHOG), the professional organization for all OB/GYNs in Haiti. This honor is a reflection of her passion and continued dedication to caring for women of Haiti.