Who we are
MamaBaby Haiti was founded by a group of midwives after their journey to Haiti following the January 2010 earthquakes. We are growing into a larger group of loving and compassionate people, including naturopathic physicians and community members, with the goal of reducing the fetal, maternal and infant death rates in Haiti. We realize that change can happen over time: one person and one village at a time. We are committed to a continued effort to see this positive change in Haiti.
Board of Directors
Jennifer Gallardo, CPM, LDM is mother to nine children, midwife to over 1,000 mommas, owner & founder of Andaluz Waterbirth Center, and founding board member of MamaBaby Haiti. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, she felt an intense need to go to Haiti to serve. Every day that she was in Haiti, the desperate poverty, hunger, and need for health care and education was worse than anything she had ever seen or imagined. When working at the hospital with no water, no latrines, and lack of medical supplies, it wasn’t difficult for her to imagine how much better it could be for the birthing mommas if there was a birthing center for them. When doing the rounds in the pediatric unit and seeing starving babies dying from lack of breast milk, she knew breastfeeding education would go a long way in reducing the death rate of babies in Haiti. When doing village healthcare her heart broke to see so many people who didn’t even have the money for fuel to boil water: their children’s bellies were distended with parasites, their hair orange from lack of vitamins and minerals, their arms and legs skinny from lack of food. She could not go back to her home and live her life as before. She called her husband, Fernando, to ask if he was willing to open a 3rd birth center: this time a non-profit in a poor country. Fernando didn’t even hesitate in his answer, “Yes.” This was the beginning of the journey to open MamaBaby Haiti.
Fernando Gallardo is father to nine children, owner and founder of Andaluz Waterbirth Center, and Technical Director and founding board member of MamaBaby Haiti. He serves tirelessly at home, church, and at the birth centers. He has many talents, though lately the most appreciated one seems to be his construction skills. He built the Andaluz Waterbirth Center in Portland, Oregon (gutting and entirely re-constructing the inside of a 1925 historical building), and more recently has been working on much needed construction projects at the MamaBaby Haiti birth center. He is our “go to”and our “honey do” man. Whenever anyone has doubted or felt maybe it wouldn’t work out, Fernando pushes forward and doesn’t let any of us quit.
Desiree Daniels LeFave, CPM, LDM is a Christian, wife, mother, midwife, co-owner and co-founder of Bella Vie Gentle Birth Center and Vice President and founding board member of MamaBaby Haiti. She has been attending births since 1998 and has caught over 500 babies. She first traveled to Haiti to help after the 2010 earthquake and was broken-hearted by what she saw. She felt clearly that Haiti’s needs were profound before the earthquake and only became more intense afterward. Her heart to serve Haitian’s is two dimensional; to provide warm, empowering support to birthing women and their families and to help the beautiful people of Haiti to have more access to clean water and nourishing food. Both things seem to be a luxury in Haiti. She is deeply inspired to change that for many and hopes others will join the work in Haiti. Much of her energy is focused on fundraising for MamaBaby Haiti.
Patricia Couch, CPM, LDM is a mother, wife, midwife, and founding board member and Secretary of MamaBaby Haiti. Patricia is a practicing midwife at Bella Vie Gentle Birth Center in Salem, Oregon. She has attended women in birth in Oregon, California, Arizona, Mexico and Haiti. She feels blessed to have walked the midwifery journey which has given her the opportunity to witness the birth of so many women, babies, fathers and families over the years. In January of 2010 after a series of earthquakes Patricia describes that she felt an incredibly strong calling to Haiti, a country she knew very little about previously. Her first trip to Haiti was in February of 2010 and she quickly fell in love with the incredibly kind-hearted Haitian people. During her time in country she worked in a hospital as well as attending village healthcare clinics. The intense reality she witnessed while helping others helped her to understand more about the challenges seen day to day in Haiti. She quickly realized that she, along with her sister midwives, had the potential of reducing the maternal, fetal and infant mortality rates one person and one village at a time and has continued to move forward towards that goal with MamaBaby Haiti.
Haiti Staff
Santo Choute is an Interpreter, Teacher, and our House Mamager. He was born in the Central Plateau Department of Haiti in a city called Hinche. His mother is a saleswoman and his father, a carpenter, passed away when he was a child, so he did not grow up with him. He has one brother and two sisters. Santo Attended Haiti International University where he studied Accounting Science but was forced to drop out after the terrible earthquake hit Haiti in January of 2010. He then received a certificate for English Interpretation from the Caribbean English School and also holds a Logistic’s Assistant Certificate and has taught English and Spanish classes for FONHEP, the Haitian Private School Foundation. He has interpreted for Operation Smile, Calvary Chapel Mission, Partners in Health, and Midwives for Haiti. He began working as an interpreter for MamaBaby Haiti in October, 2010 and has graduated as a community health outreach worker.
Charles Marie Lerrecile is our lead staff midwife. She is an essential part of our program. After primary school she attended college at the Petite Rivere de L’Artibonite. She then held several jobs including a 1st and 2nd grade teacher, a Squad Chief where she taught students how to march. After that she learned to play the guitar and went to nursing school in Port au Prince. She worked for the organization ODTPK, the Marchand Dessalines au Dispensair Claire heureuse, and the 6th Section of Haiti as a nurse. She met her husband Eduice and they had two children, Elizabeth and Gerd. After having her children she went to midwifery school with the organization Midwives for Haiti in Hinche. It was through this organization that she met Patricia and learned about MamaBaby Haiti. For fun she likes to go to church, to the movie theater, and watches soccer games.
Sarah Taylor, CPM, LDM Staff Midwife at MamaBaby Haiti
Sarah has dedicated her life to helping the underprivileged; she’s been foster mom to 20 refugee children, she’s worked as a midwife and has delivered thousands of babies. She is also an educator and helped to found the Sunnyside School in Portland, Oregon. She served there as Principle from 1994 until 2011 at which time she decided to shift her next chapter in life to Haiti. In Haiti she’ll direct MamaBaby Haiti birth center and health care center near Cap Haitien. Follow her blog as she works in Haiti: http://sarahsojourner.blogspot.com/
Committee Members
Kim Koelbl and Korina Bueher – MamaBaby Haiti Volunteer Event Coordinators
Kim and Korina have volunteered in Haiti and in the United States with MamaBaby Haiti. They are currently working hard to coordinate events in the US to help MamaBaby Haiti raise funds to operate in Haiti. Their current focus is organizing the MamaBaby Haiti team for the Portland triathlon in August 2010.
Susan Moray, CPM, LDM is the Volunteer Coordinator for MamaBaby Haiti after spending two weeks there attending births as a midwife in spring of 2011. She was called to midwifery in 1978, first as a labor doula, then teaching childbirth education for 20 years. In 1996 she graduated from and became a faculty member at Birthingway College of Midwifery in Portland. In addition to holding a position on the State of Oregon Direct-entry Midwifery Licensing Board and as Press Officer for the Midwives Alliance of North America, Susan is an Oregon practicing Licensed Midwife with Northwest Community Midwives and a Certified Professional Midwife. Her most treasured role was raising her two amazing daughters, Skylar and Polly, born at home in 1987 and 1990 into the hands of herself and her midwife.
Dr. Jessica Black, ND – Naturopathic Physician Advisor
Dr. Jessica Black graduated from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine where she obtained her medical training. She attended Cardinal Stritch University prior to her medical studies and graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts. Dr. Black divides her time between her two Oregon clinic locations, offering family healthcare to Multnomah, Yamhill, and surrounding counties. She specializes in women’s medicine, including natural hormone balancing for menopause and childhood wellness, including chronic asthma and acute and chronic illness in children. Because of her thirst for knowledge, she continues to study and research vaccinations, hormones, new treatment ideas, and cutting edge techniques used to improve people’s health.
In 2006, she published “The Anti-inflammation Diet and Recipe Book” which is sold internationally and can easily be found in local bookstores. She enjoys promoting her book and giving educational lectures to her community. In 2010 she co-authored “Living with Crohn’s and Colitis; A Comprehensive Naturopathic Guide to Health and Wellness”. She is currently working on two additional books: one covering childhood development, vaccinations, nutrition, and treatments, and the other covering inflammation, chronic illness, disease prevention, diet, and recipes.
She enjoys spending time with her husband, Dr. Jason Black, and their two beautiful spirited daughters. She is active, loves to run and ski, in addition to celebrating food and drink creations with friends and family.