By Maria Jose Montiel Castillo
“A friend told me that here (at Clinica Verde) they take care of your pregnancy,” said Rosario Vazquez, a patient who has put her pregnancy in the hands of Clinica Verde’s Dr. Holman Miranda.
Others in her community let Rosario know that at Clinica Verde the service is very good. “They told me that here they take good care of pregnant women,” she said. These words from others helped her to decide to entrust her baby’s care to Clinica Verde. “At the health center, they didn’t want to take care of me.”
Now, at 8 months and on the verge of delivery, Rosario’s baby will soon be in her arms. Rosario says that she has decided to name her son Reynaldo Israel. He is the first boy in a family of 4 girls. “The girls are looking for a brother,” said Rosario.
Rosario remembers well the day when Dr. Miranda told her that the baby she was carrying was a boy, and the happiness she felt. After a short pause she said simply, “That is good news, Dr. Miranda.” Rosario had come by the clinic for a prenatal check-up and to get her vitamins.
The staff at Clinica Verde treated her gently and well, she said. “They take good care of me. I was looking for some place where they would care for me better.”
With Rosario was one of her 4 daughters, 9-year-old Alicia. They traveled from the community of Lomas de Cafen, leaving around 5:40 in the morning so as to arrive at Clinica Verde at 7 a.m. Her husband, Mario Reynaldo, works selling vegetables in the community where they both live. Rosario says they get by.
At 35, Rosario spends her days caring for the family and home. She went to school through 5th grade and had her first child at 19. She doesn’t regret the decisions she’s made. “How can I regret anything when I have these children,” she says calmly, placing her hand over the head of Alicia.
Maria Jose Montiel Castillo is a sophomore at the Universidad Centroamericana studying Social Communication.