Climate Disasters Are Traumatizing Brazil's Children

"Patricia dos Santos was confident that her first daughter, Luna, would come into the world with the help of her grandmother, an experienced midwife from the riverside community where she lives in Alvarães in the state of Amazonas in northern Brazil. The prenatal exams indicated that everything was fine with the pregnancy, and the doctor had told her that a normal delivery could easily be done at home. But that's how pregnancy can be-sometimes complications arise at the last minute."

"And that last minute couldn't have come at a worse time. When Patricia went into labor, her grandmother, the midwife, realized that the baby had turned and was in a seated position. And something else seemed wrong with her granddaughter. Patricia needed to be taken to the city hospital for a C-section. But the community of Santa Luzia do Catuiri, where they live, on the banks of Lake Tefé, was isolated."

Patricia dos Santos planned a home birth with her grandmother, an experienced midwife, after prenatal exams showed no problems. During labor the baby moved into a seated (breech) position and additional complications made a C-section necessary. The riverside community of Santa Luzia do Catuiri on Lake Tefé became isolated when the river in front of the community disappeared during a severe September 2023 drought. Residents faced a long, exhausting walk to reach a narrow stretch of water for canoes and then a larger boat to reach the city of Tefé, creating a life-threatening delay for mother and newborn. The drought coincided with mass die-offs of pink river dolphins in Lake Tefé, highlighting the severity of the crisis.

Read at The Nation