Hola listeners, for this special season of the Dual Ingo Spanish podcast,

we are revisiting some of our favorite stories from indigenous communities across Latin America.

Today we'll travel to Guatemala to hear an episode from April 2020.

It features Linda Valencia, who was inspired by her grandmother to combine traditional medicine with modern healthcare.

Also a quick note to parents listening with children, this episode touches on topics related to reproductive health and contraception.

Thank you for your understanding and we hope you enjoy the episode.

In 2004, Dr. Linda Valencia came across something she had never seen before in her line of work.

She had been working for the Ministry of Public Health in Guatemala for almost two years,

when she first visited a hospital with a room for part of Theras or traditional midwives.

It was in Solola in the west of the country.

The difference between a common maternity in that hospital was a large room with some lions.

There, the partners could help women before, during and after the part with a medical supervision.

Linda's job was to evaluate the quality of public hospitals in all of Guatemala.

She was pleasantly surprised that in this one there was a space reserved for traditional midwives,

but her initial excitement didn't last long.

I saw most of the workers in the hospital treated badly to the partners,

even doctors and nurses.

They didn't let them help during the part.

I felt that everything was a party.

Some of the partners were asked to sweep the floors, pick up the garbage,

even to mop up the rooms after a delivery.

They were treated more like janitors than healthcare professionals.

...