VIDEO: The next step in success

"When I came here, we didn't have an operating room," says Dr. Christophe Milien, OB-GYN and director of LasCahobas Health Center in Central Haiti. In the above video, he describes a pivotal moment in his work -- having a patient suffering from birthing complications bleed to death during transport to a medical facility with a functinal operating room.

"Seconds matter, minutes matter," adds Dr. David Walton, PIH's Senior Advisor for Health and Medical Infrastructure. Thanks to Milien's efforts, LasCahobas now has the capacity to perform life-saving surgeries, including cesarean sections. As word spread throughout the community of the new services, more and more women have come to deliver their children at the facility --from 18 deliveries a month in 2008 to 110-120 a month this year.

However, this program -- which employs one midwife, one nurse, and one anesthesiologis one OBGYN -- is struggling to keep up with the demand. The new state-of-the-art Mireablais Hospital, scheduled to open next year, will help serve this community and others in central Haiti.