Fundraising letter November 2025

My name is Jessica, and I want to tell you a story. My story.  My experience in Guatemala with Baby's Breath was an incredible gift...to ME! I never expected to have come back home to Minnesota with more than I brought down...and that suitcase of supplies was  heavy! Ha! But I returned with a full heart that comes from sharing something special with the comadronas (midwives) of the San Juan Sacatepéquez area of this beautiful country.  

We came as nurses with knowledge and supplies to share. But in getting to know these women, I realized they had tremendous life experience from serving the mothers of their  communities faithfully over many decades. This project was simply adding to their skills and, for some, certifying their abilities through the program completion certificate. At the end of  each day of teaching the groups all left with faces beaming.  

The infant resuscitation certificates provided each with an increased level of confidence in  themselves which ripples into their respective communities. I left each day of teaching with a  strong sense of pride and connection with these women that did not need any translation. I am  so grateful for my time in Guatemala and plans are in the works for me to return in  2026!

Thank you, Baby's Breath, for this beautiful opportunity! 

My thanks to Jessica for this beautifully written tribute to her experience with Baby’s Breath Project! 

We are currently preparing for our next trip in January 2026. We have one team of talented nurses, nurse practitioners and doctors who are giving their time toward teaching the Helping Babies Breathe program to midwives, nurses and firefighters. We have been granted permission by the Ministry of Health to return  

to San Juan Sacatepéquez (north of Guatemala City) to teach our program in their jurisdiction.  

For those of you who are not familiar with our organization, we teach some basic resuscitation skills for those people who attend a birth. The  focus is on the “Golden Minute”, the first minute of life in which a baby needs to start  breathing. If they are not crying or breathing, the birth attendant needs the skills to recognize  this and stimulate the baby to breathe and/or initiate the first breath

with a bag and mask.  Most of the people who attend our classes are not able to acquire the basic equipment and supplies needed to resuscitate an infant who is not breathing. We feel that it is important for them to have this equipment when they complete the Helping Babies Breathe training. Therefore, each person receives a backpack that has a resuscitation bag and two masks, suction bulb, surgical towels, diapers,  hats, umbilical tape, thermometer, scissors, soap and the Helping Babies Breathe reference guide in Spanish. 

The volunteers are responsible for their own airfare and are generous in giving up their vacation time for these trips. Baby's Breath Project pays for all of their expenses while they are in Guatemala, which include lodging, meals and transportation. In addition, Baby’s Breath also pays for the costs of the educational materials that we use while teaching and the translators for both Spanish and the indigenous languages. We also provide a snack and lunch for the translators  and midwives each teaching day. 

As we enter this season of giving, we hope that you will consider supporting our January team!! Baby’s Breath Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so your donation is tax deductible.  You can also make your contribution through our website: www.babysbreathproject.org. 

We hope that this finds you all well. Our sincere  thanks for your support! 

Muchas gracias, 

Meg Dornfeld, Director 

Baby’s Breath Project 7084 Cahill Road 

Edina, MN 55439 

babysbreathgua@gmail.com