ORGANIZATIONS MOBILIZE TO HELP PREGNANT WOMEN AND NEW MOMS AFTER MAUI WILDFIRES

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Aubrey Vailoces was breastfeeding her 10-month-old daughter when she and her whole family were forced to evacuate their home in Maui as the deadly wildfires descended on the area. In the aftermath, she was forced to go door-to-door looking for supplies for her baby. Her story is just one of hundreds of pregnant women and new moms who are now desperate for medical care and supplies to keep themselves and their families healthy.

Access to maternal healthcare was already a problem before the wildfires, but fortunately, a couple of organizations are aware of the problems that pregnant residents and new moms are currently facing in Maui and are working hard and getting creative to tackle the problem. Maui-based nonprofit Pacific Birth Collective, a grassroots organization that advocates for birth education and wellness, has been delivering crucial supplies by jet ski or boat to families that aren’t able to make it to relief distribution hubs.

Another organization that’s been working to help pregnant and postpartum moms on Maui is the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii. Right after the fires, their 24/7 hotline was available to offer advice. They also sent a mobile clinic van with a five-person clinical team to Maui to provide free tests and ultrasounds. These and other organizations are doing what they can to help Maui’s moms and say they’re getting good support now, but their leaders stress that it’s important that people not forget that Maui’s recovery is going to take a long time and they’ll continue to need the world’s help.

Source: GOOD MORNING AMERICA