One more life saved. The story of Carla.

Carla Botetano and her youngest daughter Fernanda López Botetano at their home in El Alto

Carla Botetano Yucra lives with her three children and her mother in the city of El Alto, in Bolivia, and she earns a very modest income selling shoes. She was pregnant with her fourth baby when she began to experience pain and bleeding.

It was already late, 6 or 7 in the evening. I was bleeding badly. I could not walk because I was losing so much blood, with large blood clots. I arrived at the Dutch hospital, where they treated me in the emergency room.

Carla Botetano

“They took me to the room on a stretcher and they told me that I was already in an emergency situation, a Red Alert! So they put me in a suit and they wrapped it all around me. They put me on a drip and they took immediate action. I felt calmer because I felt warmer, because before I was so cold! I had a chill and felt really cold.”

Carla Botetano

City of El Alto, La Paz, Bolivia

Bolivia has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the Americas. Hemorrhage is the main cause of maternal death, and takes the lives of more than 160 Bolivians every year.

Doctor examining pregnant patient — Dr. María Rene Jorge attends a pregnant woman at the Walter Kohn Hospital in the city of Oruro, in Bolivia

In 2016, PAHO and Canada created the Integrated Health Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean Project (IHSLAC). One of its objectives is to support initiatives and programs to reduce maternal deaths in 11 countries in the region.

The Non-Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment is a key device for reducing the risk of maternal death due to hemorrhage, since it stops the bleeding while the woman is transferred to a medical assistance center.

A team from the Ambulance Service for Urgent and Medical Emergencies (SUMA) of El Alto attends a patient during an obstetric eme

The help of Canada and PAHO has allowed almost a hundred hospitals and health centers in Bolivia to acquire 200 anti-shock garments.

Medical team supporting a Carla Botetano

Dr. Cindy Cruz, obstetrician at Hospital Boliviano Holandés

Dr. Cindy Cruz, obstetrician gynecologist at the Bolivian Dutch Hospital, attended Carla Botetano during her emergency. "Since I have been working here in the last two years, about ten women’s lives have been saved using the anti-shock garment." Dr. Cindy Cruz

The training of health personnel is another of the interventions implemented within the Integrated Health Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean Project (IHSLAC).

More than 95% of maternal deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean are preventable

In the last two years, 450 health professionals have been trained in the use of the anti-shock garment and other techniques to prevent maternal death due to hemorrhage.

Carla with her three sons — Carla takes her three children, Miriam, Joaquín and Fernanda to school in the neighborhood of San Martín, in El Alto

BETWEEN 2016 AND 2018, THE ANTI-SHOCK GARMENT HAS SAVED THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 100 BOLIVIANS LIKE CARLA.

“Thank you, they have given me back something great – my life – and above all, my family’s happiness”

For additional information about the IHSLAC Project visit https://www.paho.org/can

Canada

Bolivia

Latin American Center for Perinatology, Women and Reproductive Health (CLP/WR)

Family, Health Promotion and Life Course

Maternal Health