About
In Guatemala, most women do not have access to compassionate and quality maternity care. Traditional midwives who may tend to treat women in a more compassionate and culturally sensitive way, often do not have any medical training to be able to manage birth complications. While public hospitals may have physicians equipped to handle complications, they are often inaccessible and known for treating women poorly. Private maternity care providers are not accessible to the majority of women due to extreme poverty.
The goal of Esperanza Naciente (Rising Hope in English) maternity ministry and Jardin de Machseh (Garden of Refuge) Birth Center is to offer a space that provides quality AND trauma-informed care both when medical intervention is necessary as well as when care is provided by a midwife in uncomplicated births. At the maternity center women will receive care balanced in addressing their physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs.
The heart behind this maternity ministry is to create place where each woman that walks through the doors will feel loved, valued, supported, and empowered. We believe that every women deserves to receive dignified and quality care that will enable them to find hope and healing through their pregnancy and birth experiences.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide trauma sensitive, evidence based, and holistic prenatal, pregnancy, postpartum and early childhood care for young mothers at risk and their infants
Our Vision
Our vision is to pursue excellence in
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trauma sensitive care by engaging local medical professionals with trauma informed care training and secondary trauma support, by honoring cultural practices that create felt safety, by collaborating with local mental health care providers to empower women to express their wishes and needs during their prenatal care and birth, and by implementing the 6 key principles of trauma informed care (as defined by SAMHSA) in our practices and protocols;
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evidence-based care by regularly updating our practices and protocols based on current research, by providing comprehensive care on site to maintain continuity of care and equal access to quality care, and by providing continuing education for our staff and;
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holistic care by acknowledging the long-term impact that the birth experience has on both mother and baby, by providing emotional, social and spiritual support in addition to medical care during pregnancy and birth, and by offering ongoing education.
Our Founder
Catie Hoeppner is originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and has served in nursing and women’s healthcare for more than 20 years. After earning her nursing degree in 2003, she spent over a decade working in family and midwifery practices in the United States before beginning ministry work in Latin America.
Following several mission trips, God led her to Guatemala, where she served for more than three years as a nurse with Kids Alive International, caring for girls who had experienced abuse and trauma. During that time, her passion for compassionate, holistic maternity care grew as she recognized the need for safer and more supportive birth options for vulnerable women. This passion led her to pursue the vision of opening a birth center in Guatemala that will provide trauma-sensitive, accessible care while supporting women spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
She has now called Guatemala home for 8 years and resides there with her daughter.
