Five women die every day from pregnancy or birth-related complications in Peru. The doctor is usually a general practitioner, not a gynecologist or an obstetrician. Revelations earlier this year that Peruvian government health personnel forced sterilization on poor women have only complicated attempts to address the situation. The Health Ministry is now focused on cleaning up an international public relations disaster, and has spent little effort on other reproductive health issues. In Ilave, where Pintado plies her trade, icy winds stroke through the farmlands almost year around.
Potatoes support the local economy, and make up the principle source of food.
Here, most women give birth in mud and straw huts, which generally do not have electricity, water or drainage. They lie in cots that brush the ground, covered with blankets discolored by use and washed for the delivery in the nearest river. One big room usually serves as the kitchen, dining room, bedroom, and barn, and may be crowded with people and animals. If complications arise during birth, I try to revive the mother with home remedies such as hot herbal teas, compresses made from medicinal plants and those kinds of things. Dressed in a thick skirt, hat and wool stockings, which protect against the inclement cold of the mountains, she speaks slowly and deliberately.