La Matriz Birth

Tema Mercado, Midwife

Grounded Bilingual Homebirth Midwife Care for San Diego and Tijuana, Baja California Families

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tema@lamatrizbirth.com 619.500.6552

LOCATIONS
Mission Valley , San Diego
2835 Camino del Rio S. #210, San Diego CA 92108
Tijuana Clinic

Anjali Centro Bienestar
Calle Sacramento 4424, Jardines De San Carlos, Tijuana, B.C., México

 

Parteras Fronterizas / Borderland Midwives

Mission

To provide ALL of Tijuana and especially migrants comprehensive and respectable maternity care regardless of social economic or legal status. We are here to make those made by the Mexican government invisible visible again, loved and cared for.

Vision

In an effort to reduce the Mexican National Cesarean rate of 51% and Obstetrical Violence (Mexico places 5th in the world), Parteras Fronterizas desires to provide Tijuana with the first ever Tijuana Freestanding Birth Center for Migrants and Residents. Additionally we strive to have professional midwives recognized and included into the public health system by providing a midwifery pathway in Mexico.

What ‘Parteras Fronterizas’ Does

Currently, we provide volunteer midwifery services for approximately 20 pregnant women.

We set up bi-weekly appointments at our Tijuana prenatal clinic Anjali, where we rent space. We are happy to provide all migrants a clean and beautiful space to have their prenatal consultations. All care is cost free for migrants.

Prenatal Care for Migrants includes:

  • Transportation to and from our clinic
  • Group & private prenatal consults
  • Ultrasounds & lab work
  • Vitamins and medications

In addition, we work with migrants to help them understand what paperwork is needed to obtain a Mexican Birth Certificate.

Support The Work

Monetary donations are always needed for ultrasounds, labs, medications, space rental, birth supplies, and baby goods.

Donate basic supplies so we can provide a mobile midwifery clinics to the nearly 30 pop-up migrant shelters.

OR please donate a prenatal care package to help cover the full prenatal care costs for one migrant mother:

How did this project begin?

I had just completed my clinical hours for midwifery school when I was made aware by a niece of mine that there was an influx of Haitian Immigrants stuck at the Tijuana Border. I was baffled because I had not heard anything on the news, radio or social media. Finally I found one short radio clip on KPBS. I immediately thought about the women and children, specifically the pregnant women and babies. Who was caring for them? How were they being treated? I went through a mental battle with myself. My rational side said “ no Tema, you can not help, you need to pass your licensure exam first” but my heart said “If you don’t help then no one will help. This is why you are a midwife!” Well, needless to say, my heart won that battle. The very next morning I packed up my little prenatal bag and went to Casa Madre Asunta, a refuge for Migrant Women in Tijuana. There I only found one pregnant mother and she was about 8 months pregnant. I pulled out my doppler and she heard her baby’s heart rate for the very first time.

Immediately after that, I went to largest shelter El Desayunador del Padre Salesiano, and there I was met with a line of 16 pregnant women.

I spent 8 hours providing what was for most of them their very first prenatal appointment.

I drove home crying, thinking of their reality, thinking “How in the world am I going to pull this off?”…  

So I did what any good Millennial (technically I’m a Generation X) does and reached out to Social Media. I created an Amazon Wish List and the donations started pouring in. Before I knew it I had all the basic supplies I needed to provide a mobile midwifery clinic to the nearly 30 pop-up migrant shelters. Then the volunteer Midwives and birth workers from San Diego and Tijuana began pitching in with the volunteer prenatal care.

Fall of 2016 were the heaviest months with the most migrants coming into to the city. Slowly the need has subsided. My sister Midwife Ximena Rojas and I have done our best to continue providing services to the women who remain in shelters. We have counted on the support of organizations like One World Midwives who have helped us with organizational and donation contributions.

Sobre Partera Ximena:

A. Ximena Rojas García
(Veracruz, México 1982)
Mujer, Madre, Partera, Doula, estudió la carrera de enfermería y obstetricia en la UNAM, fue pionera en el intercambio estudiantil con la Universidad de Utah en Salt Lake City donde cursó un semestre y dio atención a la salud en el consulado mexicano en Utah, atendió y asistió en su servicio social en los hospitales materno infantiles al rededor de 350 partos, inició la atención del Parto en casa en Cd de México en 2010 y luego se mudó a la Baja California a estudiar educación de la Sexualidad en 2013, creó el Taller Itinerante de Preparación para Doulas para tener más guardianas del nacimiento en esa región del país.
En 2014 creó el Colegio de Doulas y Parteras Hüfi dando clases online para proveer de Teoría de Partería accesible a más mujeres de diferentes territorios, continuó constantemente con la atención del Parto en casa y los acompañamientos al nacimiento tanto en Baja California México como en California EUA, toma constantes cursos y talleres de actualización y de terapias alternativas de cuidado a la salud, en Diciembre de 2016 comenzó a trabajar con Bianca Tema Mercado partera CPM de EUA formando una alianza bella al servicio de los nacimientos respetados en la región de la frontera, ambas comparten la atención voluntaria a migrantes refugiadas que llegaron de Haití desde Junio de 2016 a la actualidad, en Mayo de 2017 inicia estudios en National College of Midwifery de Nuevo México para alcanzar su licencia de Partera en los Estados Unidos, la filosofía del nacimiento de Ximena es que la gestación, el parto, el posparto y la lactancia son un acto sexual donde se debe facilitar el instinto, la intimidad y el respeto, “la ceremonia de parir y nacer la teje cada familia con su historia de amor”.

Support The Work

Other ways to help: Email Tema@lamatrizbirth.com to lend your support.

+ Help us become a NGO or 501c-3

+ Help us write and submit grants.

+ Help us build a website for PF.