After a Disaster, “the Mothers Will Call You to Where You Need to Be”

Picture a disaster's first responders. A firefighter dousing a blaze or a doctor treating a critical injury might come to mind. But midwives caring for pregnant women and newborns are also critical responders during disasters, a fact that Sunny Chen, executive director of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawai'i, knows firsthand.

"When the disaster happened, our Maui partners called us and said, 'we need you to come,' and so we brought the mobile clinic here and we were able to provide critical medical care and services," she said. "That's the amazing thing about midwives and nurses. We just do whatever it takes, and we adapt."

The organization's midwives and nurses were some of the first medical responders to reach the island after the fires and continue to provide care for families.

As the one-year anniversary of the Maui wildfire approaches, this video, produced by Direct Relief, spotlights Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawai'i and the vital role it played during the crisis. The organization's efforts build on its 30 years of dedicated work to improve maternal, child, and family health across the state, ensuring safe pregnancies, reducing cesarean birth rates, decreasing postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, and increasing breastfeeding rates, particularly among high-risk pregnant and birthing individuals, with a particular focus on Native Hawaiians, Indigenous peoples, and COFA migrants.

In the fire's aftermath, Direct Relief provided Healthy Mothers, Health Babies of Hawai'i $550,000 in emergency operating funds to support the coalition's critical work.

Direct Relief's support for the coalition dates back years. Since 2020, Direct Relief has provided the organization with medical aid and support, including grants through its Fund for Health Equity totaling $675,000 to expand mobile services and maternal and child health care into the community.

From the immediate medical care provided by mobile clinics to the long-term support for displaced families, the coalition's work highlights the indispensable role of midwives and nurses in disaster recovery.

"When you take care of mothers and pregnant and parenting people, you really take care of a whole community," she said. "The mothers will call you to where you need to be."