We had to be careful. For example, most of the mothers breastfeed, so we had to use medicines that wouldn't pass through the breast milk. At first, the American doctors told the Sig Sig women to bottle feed with formula to avoid the problem of drug interaction. But this was totally impractical. The women didn't have any money for formula or bottles, and no sanitary water.
Breast milk is the main nutrition source for babies there.
So, I had to convince the doctors to find medications that would not pass through the breast milk. In Chicago, Staneva works in the surgical ICU caring for patients after surgery. With both staff and supplies limited in Ecuador, though, she spent several days assisting surgeries in a makeshift operating room. No one in the OR spoke English, and I don't speak Spanish. You learn to cross the language barrier when you have to.