Immersion Program

Indigenous Maya Midwifery, Traditional Medicine, and Community Health Systems

The Naye Xjaw Maya Midwifery International Immersion Program offers a structured, in-depth experience of Indigenous Maya midwifery and community-based healthcare in the Mam region of Guatemala.

Participants engage directly with midwives, clinical care, and community life to understand how health, culture, environment, and governance operate within an integrated system of care developed over more than two decades.

What You Will Experience

Participants learn within an established care model where birth is understood as both clinical practice and cultural process. Through guided participation and structured learning, participants will:

  • Observe and engage with reproductive healthcare grounded in Indigenous practice

  • Understand how ancestral knowledge and biomedical approaches are integrated

  • Learn the role of midwives as healthcare providers and community leaders

  • Examine how biodiversity, traditional medicine, and nutrition influence health outcomes

  • Understand how governance and operational systems support continuity of care

Program Components

Ancestral Midwifery & Traditional Knowledge

  • Calling and role of the comadrona

  • Prenatal, labor, and postpartum care practices

  • Use of medicinal plants and traditional healing systems

  • Temescal/Chuj and related practices

  • Nutrition, breastfeeding, and family planning

Clinical & Community-Based Care

  • Participation in care at the Birth and Reproductive Health Center

  • Observation of births, consultations, and postpartum care

  • Mobile clinics in rural communities

  • Midwife-led training sessions

Systems & Context

  • Indigenous governance and leadership structures

  • Relationship with public health systems

  • Structural factors affecting maternal health in Guatemala

  • Design of community-led health systems

Cultural & Community Experience

  • Maya cosmovision and knowledge systems

  • Language, identity, and cultural continuity

  • Food systems and daily life practices

  • Community events and ceremonies

Learning Environment

The program is led by Maya midwives, community leaders, and facilitators with experience bridging Indigenous and biomedical systems. Learning is structured, participatory, and grounded in respect for community processes.

Who This Program Is For

  • Midwives, nurses, doctors, doulas, and birth workers

  • Public health and anthropology students

  • Practitioners of traditional or alternative medicine

  • Professionals seeking experience in Indigenous health systems

Program Details

Location
Naye Xjaw Birth and Reproductive Health Center
San Miguel Sigüilá, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

Duration
Approximately 2 weeks (75+ hours)

Languages
English, Spanish, Mam (with interpretation)

Certification
Certificate of Completion

Program Contribution

$2,500 (tax-deductible)

Supports:

  • Midwife compensation

  • Clinical services and mobile clinics

  • Knowledge preservation and biodiversity

  • Ongoing program operations