Nuevo San Antonio, GuatemalaIn a dimly lit green bedroom in Guatemala’s western highlands, the 66-year-old midwife chants the words like a prayer, mixing Spanish and her K’iche' Indigenous language as she cradles the woman giving birth on the ground before her.
“Breathe. Breathe, mija,” says Epifanía Elías. “You have to breathe. Be strong.”
Her patient, 25-year-old Leidy Chavez, writhes in pain, gripping the thick wool picnic blanket she has laid on the floor of her family’s home. None of Chavez’s family members are present, but Elías and her sister-in-law provide some comfort by gently stroking her hair.
In this tiny mountain village of stretching corn fields, where access to running water is scarce and basic healthcare services limited, pregnancies tend to be high-risk, according to the region’s
