Eidy Yelisa Caballero is thirty-three years old, she started in midwifery with her mother, grandmother and sisters who are also midwives. She is the mother of three girls, she had them with the help of the women in her family. About his knowledge and work with herbs, he shares: 

 

“I like to prepare the arrechón, the seven powers also serves to remove the cold. I also like to learn from what my mother does, from the balsamics and the waters. When I give birth with my mother or grandmother, they send me, I know what herbs and how much I should take, and what I have to do with them. Some herbs are assembled with the hands, others have to be cooked.  The one that is most used in labor is the escobabosa.”

 

For the strengthening of midwifery and the association she feels more support and recognition is needed: 

 

“Here in Condoto we would like them to help us with stretchers, with more training. We would like to have a salary even if it is a minimum. Here in Condoto we don't have  where they can do ultrasounds, they have to go to Quibdó or Istmina. ” 

 

Regarding the link with the formal health system, she comments that there is a hospital nearby, at the beginning they were discriminated against. On one occasion,   presented their mother's diplomas, to demonstrate their knowledge and since then the bond has improved, but there is still much to build.

 

Her twenty-year-old sister, Yuri Yinela, is also a midwife, both were born in Condoto. She is the mother of a nine-month-old boy, he was parted by his grandmother, his mother and sisters. She entered the world of midwifery due to family tradition and curiosity:

 

“One is always very curious and one always wants to be seeing things that the older ones do and well, one leaned out, so they wouldn't see it and that's it. Until they accepted and now they let us be with them, watching and carrying out the deliveries.”

 

What she enjoys most about accompanying a labor is the hubbub and joy that is experienced:

 

“One enjoys those cries of the little sisters, to later pick them up, we enjoy ourselves, we record, it's a mess, what gives you the most joy is when the baby comes out, practically everything is over. Seeing that the child is not born, is not born…until it finally comes out, then joy is a beauty.”

 

All his learnings are the result of the family inheritance, with a smile of pride he tells:

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“I learned from my mom and my grandmother, that her belly moves, that the baby settles, that you have to gather little herbs, everything is step by step. The vapors are made with herbs with hot waters, in labor, that helps to get rid of the cold and dilate.”

 

It highlights the value of traditional midwifery, considering that they work with more empathy and respect for the physiological times of childbirth:

 

“Traditional midwifery seems important to me, you go to the hospital and they cut everything up, it's very different. If you saw, you are surprised, the children come out and it doesn't even look like she had a baby, it doesn't look like it, one is left intact. We take on the task of exercising with the mother, walking in frogs, going up and down, on one side, on the other. When the baby is going to be born they begin to push, it brings its moment, that is neither getting on top of the woman nor taking the child out, we listen and touch, how much it has dilated. It's all in sight."

 

Her greatest wish is to have adequate delivery rooms, since in some houses the spaces are far from ideal, and they also have a kitchen to work with medicinal plants. Finally add:

 

“Give us stretchers, nursing courses, training. Resources are required, hats, masks, gloves, you have to be well equipped. Also being able to do an ultrasound, a team that we can see instantly how the babies are doing.  We want to get ahead, we want to continue shining, that's what we want.”