Representatives of Physicians for Peace Maternal and Child Health Program Visit U.S.

Altagracia Luna and Kissairis M. Rodriguez are two Physicians for Peace "Resource Mothers," women from the barrios of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, trained by Physicians for Peace volunteers to provide pre-and-post natal care and education to poor pregnant Dominican teenagers.

Resource Mothers, adult role models who have successfully raised their own children, undertake an extensive series of home visits to mentor these teens through their pregnancy and up to the baby's first birthday, teaching them the fundamentals of pregnancy and infant care. This mentoring is effective in decreasing infant deaths and disabilities and improving the health of the young mother.

These two Physicians for Peace Resource Mothers will be visiting Hampton Roads from October 2 to October 7, 2008, in order to speak at the Physicians for Peace Celebrate the Nations Gala on October 4, at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach.

During their visit, they will meet with representatives of the Virginia Resource Mothers program (http://www.vahealth.org/resourcemothers/) to share knowledge and experiences. The Virginia program was the inspiration for the Physicians for Peace program in the Dominican Republic.

ABOUT PHYSICIANS FOR PEACE

Physicians for Peace is an international private voluntary organization that mobilizes healthcare educators to assist developing nations with unmet medical needs and scarce resources. Through effective, hands-on medical education and training, clinical care and donated medical supplies, Physicians for Peace creates long-term, sustainable, replicable, and evidence-based projects to help partner nations build medical capability and capacity to help themselves. Volunteers for the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization have conducted medical missions in more than 50 countries. More information is available at www.physiciansforpeace.org.