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2:04

is struggling to deal with these weapons are

2:06

the stories of Black and Latino still united.

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Organizing at the forefront of the

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movement. I might yet you know

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for some not have I am.

2:19

Hello my dear Latino Usa listener.

2:22

You. Know, living on the Texas Mexico border

2:24

is challenging for a lot of reasons right

2:26

now. And so today we wanted to bring

2:28

you a story about what it's like to

2:30

give birth. In. South West Texas.

2:33

Where there's only one hospitals

2:35

serving a region of twelve

2:37

thousand square miles. And

2:39

it doesn't get better on the

2:42

Mexicans side of the border. But

2:44

he sat live asthma knows this all too

2:47

well. She lives in oh he

2:49

Naga in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

2:52

But. She works in the Texas

2:54

border town of Presidio. For.

2:57

The birth of her. Second child, Lisa

2:59

decided to schedule a C

3:01

section at the only maternity

3:03

hospital available in south West

3:05

Texas. It's called Alpine. Lisa

3:08

thought it would be safer than

3:11

delivering in Mexico, but things didn't

3:13

go as planned. This

3:16

is a story from our friends at

3:18

Marfa Public Radio. It's part of the

3:20

series so far from tear. Will.

3:22

Unify more stories about the challenges

3:24

women are facing to access reproductive

3:27

health care in the Big Bend

3:29

area. Here's. The episode

3:31

it's called Alone on this

3:33

site. It

3:35

was a cold night in February up on

3:37

a highway through the oil fields of the

3:39

Permian Basin. And. If you been

3:42

up there you know people tend to

3:44

drive pretty fast. Lots of F one

3:46

fifties and big tank truck. But.

3:48

there was one little car that was

3:50

moving a lot slower than the rest

3:52

and everybody with honking at it passing

3:54

it trying to get it to go

3:56

faster but they didn't realize with that

3:58

this car with actually in more of

4:01

a hurry than anybody else on the road.

4:03

Because inside, the woman in the passenger

4:05

seat was in labor. She

4:08

was a little bit tired, but she was a little bit

4:10

tired. She was a little bit tired. She was a little

4:13

bit tired. That's Brisa Levesma.

4:15

She'd been having contractions for more than a

4:17

full day by this point. Her

4:19

mom, Lauda, was driving as fast as she could,

4:22

but Lauda lives in a small rural community

4:25

in Mexico, and she wasn't used to

4:27

having to keep pace with oil field workers. This

4:30

was an emergency, and

4:35

she was trying to keep her foot on the gas, but

4:38

she was watching all these huge trucks zoom by

4:40

and didn't want to get in an accident. Meanwhile,

4:42

Brisa was in a lot of pain, and

4:45

they were both trying to keep calm. In

4:54

the car, they talked about Brisa's grandma,

4:56

Lauda's mom, who died just a few

4:58

years before, remembering her

5:00

trying to distract themselves with stories.

5:04

Lauda told Brisa she felt like Thelma

5:06

and Louise, two women on

5:08

the run down a desert highway. That

5:13

made them laugh and then also cry. I'm

5:21

Annie Rosenthal, and this is So Far From

5:23

Care. If you heard our

5:25

first episode, you know that long, scary drives

5:28

like this one aren't uncommon in

5:30

West Texas. There's only one

5:32

hospital in the Big Ben region, serving

5:34

an area of 12,000 square miles. People

5:38

here have even given birth on the side of

5:40

the road because the delivery room

5:42

was just too far away. But

5:45

the situation Brisa faced was even more dramatic than

5:47

what we're used to out here because

5:49

she'd already been to that one hospital, and

5:52

they couldn't help her. But

5:55

Brisa's story is about a real Low point

5:57

in access to reproductive care out here.

6:00

When. The only maternity ward and far west

6:02

Texas. Started shutting down, But.

6:05

It's also about another force that

6:07

she place in the region one

6:09

you might not immediately connector healthcare

6:11

that the border and what it

6:13

can mean to somebody becoming a

6:15

mom. How we can divide

6:18

of families but also create options

6:20

were there seem to be none?

6:26

I met Body so last year at a

6:28

cafe in the border town of Presidio. She.

6:30

Came in with her mom. And will

6:33

be.it's yeah, It's

6:36

bristle is just across

6:38

the. Rio. Grande in know he not

6:40

a two hour but she has a green

6:42

card and she works in Presidio. For.

6:44

Prenatal visits were here in town, and she'd scheduled

6:47

a C section of the hospital and alpine an

6:49

hour and a half away. She'd

6:51

had one before with her first child, so the

6:53

doctors thought that was the safest way to go.

6:56

City Dickens's idea. For

6:59

a long look on the doesn't look

7:01

good morning for seen the planned everything

7:03

out but he says mom was in

7:06

town to be with her for the

7:08

birth and the doctor buddies i had

7:10

seen her whole pregnancy would deliver the

7:12

baby. Bit. Five days before

7:14

this you section was scheduled, Breezes

7:16

started having contractions. And they

7:18

lasted all night. So. In the

7:20

morning she and her mom headed for the hospital. But.

7:24

When they got their. Nausea

7:26

person. That aside, At

7:29

Amazon as well As of that, the staff

7:31

told. Them: the maternity ward was about

7:33

to close. Push Pandemic

7:35

lake. lots of rural hospitals big

7:38

than regional. Medical Center was really

7:40

struggling. By the summer of

7:42

Twenty Twenty One they didn't have the

7:44

staff to keep everything running so that

7:46

meant for per the week though maternity

7:48

ward would go on something called diversion.

7:50

Basically it was closed and that would

7:53

go on for days at a time.

7:55

So. if you went into labor during that period

7:57

and didn't wanna give birth in the yard with

8:00

whatever staff was on hand, you

8:02

had to make it to another hospital. And

8:05

the closest one was in Fort Stockton, another

8:08

hour away. Brisa

8:11

and her mom decided to head back to Mexico.

8:13

They were hoping she could wait until the

8:15

ward reopened. But by the

8:17

time they got to Marfa, still more than

8:19

60 miles from home, the pain

8:22

was getting worse. So they turned

8:24

around again and drove to Fort

8:26

Stockton. On

8:28

the way there, Brisa says they lost service,

8:30

and they couldn't get it at the second

8:32

hospital either. Brisa's husband was

8:35

back in Ojinaga with their older daughter,

8:38

and they couldn't reach him for hours. They

8:46

stayed at the hospital until nighttime. But

8:49

then Brisa says the staff told her it

8:51

wasn't time to give birth, and that their

8:53

doctor was heading home for the day. Laura

8:57

couldn't believe it. She

9:09

said, I gave birth to four kids. I

9:11

know she's about to have her baby. Brisa

9:14

says the nurse on duty told them, I'm

9:17

the only one here. If

9:26

you're going to have your baby, she says the nurse

9:28

said, I'll be the one to deliver

9:31

it. But it won't be a c-section, it'll

9:33

be a natural birth. Now

9:35

after you've had one c-section, a vaginal

9:38

birth can be really risky. But

9:40

in Fort Stockton, Brisa didn't feel like she

9:42

had a choice. She called

9:44

up her original doctor, the one who was supposed to

9:47

deliver the baby. She

9:49

says he told her, if you can move, move. Try

9:55

and get to Odessa. That's another

9:57

80 miles away. But there's a

9:59

big... hospital there. So they

10:01

got in the car again and were back

10:04

where we started. Laura went

10:06

from this two-lane road to the

10:08

interstate suddenly surrounded by honking trucks.

10:10

Brisa in tears 24 hours

10:12

into her contractions. They

10:24

got to the hospital in Odessa around 1030

10:26

and in the middle of

10:28

the night after driving nearly 300 miles

10:30

between two countries and three

10:33

hospitals, Brisa had

10:35

her C-section and her baby Andrea

10:37

was born. Brisa

10:41

wasn't the only person with a multi-hospital

10:43

trek like that. Over the

10:45

full year that the maternity ward in Alpine

10:48

was on diversion, the hospital told me 14

10:51

women were turned away while in labor. Now

10:54

the unit is open 24-7 again but

10:57

the hospital isn't equipped to deal with emergency

10:59

cases so if the delivery

11:01

is complicated or the baby comes early

11:04

it can still mean a trip to Odessa. Brisa's

11:08

story really brought it home for me. Here

11:10

even if you have everything planned out

11:12

you can find yourself in a really

11:14

scary situation far from help

11:17

having to make big high-stakes decisions

11:19

on your own. It

11:22

was especially jarring for Brisa because the

11:24

experience was so different from the first

11:27

time she'd given birth back in Mexico.

11:42

She said before everything went smoothly. She

11:44

came in at the scheduled time, they

11:47

did the C-section, took the baby out.

11:49

It wasn't even painful and

11:51

that was just a few hundred miles away. When

11:58

we talk about Far West Texas we often Talk

12:00

about how isolated this region is.

12:03

All these tiny towns in the middle of

12:05

nowhere. But that's only

12:07

true if you forget about. Mexico, Oceana.

12:10

Where Bruce Willis isn't a huge city

12:13

may be twenty five thousand. People. But

12:15

it's just across the river from

12:17

Presidio. And he does have a hospital. For.

12:20

But he said though, deciding where to go for

12:22

care and were to have her daughter. Was.

12:25

More complicated than what was closer to

12:27

home. But. He says from

12:29

a smaller city south. Of O. J. And.

12:31

Sooner Husband Efron had their first

12:33

daughter Michelle near their. They

12:36

moved Oceana not long after for work.

12:39

But. Good paying jobs were hard to come by.

12:42

Eventually, but he's a found work across

12:44

the border in Texas cleaning rooms at

12:46

a resort down the reverse. She said

12:48

the job was tough, but it was

12:50

the best she could get for a

12:52

couple years later. He knows. He

12:55

is that alone. Over to. The episode Celsius

12:57

Mcconnell said up the mess on other

12:59

means office will know she's involved. As.

13:02

Homely meanwhile. Aston

13:04

didn't have a visa to enter the

13:06

Us so he couldn't cross. Neither.

13:08

Could little Michelle so he was

13:11

raising her almost single handedly. Breeze

13:13

I would come home though. He now that

13:15

after a long day of work and basically

13:18

collapse. The. Set up in Fuel Sustainable

13:20

for either of them. So. When basic

13:22

got pregnant again in Twenty Twenty One,

13:24

they decided this time they'd have their

13:26

daughter in the Us. That

13:29

way she could cross to and they'd

13:31

have options. Now. That decision

13:33

meant Efron wouldn't be able to be with Be.

13:35

So when she went to give birth. When.

13:38

I met him later on. I asked him what that

13:40

had been like for him. Safely.

13:45

As susceptible to follow the flair

13:47

for for years or so, the

13:49

will say this is a minute.

13:51

He is a snowflake set of

13:53

easy surprising that has. Not

13:55

been able to be there to

13:57

accompany but he said sir help

13:59

his wife and baby daughter lives

14:01

at the I've seen some of

14:04

us six me that is awesome

14:06

of he. Said of Salt Lake not

14:08

having when. He felt

14:10

useless civil cases. Luckily.

14:14

It. but he says mom how to be some

14:16

so she wasn't completely alone. When they

14:18

decided to go to Texas route but he's

14:20

allowed I knew they were going to a

14:22

smaller hospital. One. Far away with

14:24

fewer resources than ones and Chihuahua.

14:27

Dot with the price Lisa was willing

14:29

to pay eight or nine said a

14:31

semi. you're never said. Last said I

14:33

had the feeling and that and need

14:35

any six bc life But louder said

14:37

they didn't expect to find themselves speeding

14:39

between hospital. For. The process to

14:42

be so long and complicated and scary.

14:45

And it wasn't just the distance, but he says

14:47

that until they got to Odessa, it was hard

14:49

for them to even understand what all the medical

14:51

staff were telling them. She.

14:53

Says almost No one spoke to them

14:55

in Spanish. Her. English is

14:57

limited, but she said the pain

14:59

helped her concentrate on understanding the

15:02

important stuff. So

15:04

much. Easier

15:07

to the not as good as

15:09

a constant threat as an apartment

15:12

and mental illnesses and Lisa told

15:14

me she. Keeps thinking about other women she

15:16

knows, you know, Humira who have also given birth

15:18

in the U S. A lot

15:20

on don't speak English at all. And.

15:22

Not even their moms can cross. Some.

15:25

I even lost their children in the delivery room.

15:28

And dealt with that totally alone. I

15:30

I I mean. Can safely assume

15:33

that a global positioning finishing a deal

15:35

of. When he he. He

15:38

gave her many do

15:40

this. Even

15:46

before giving birth to undreamt Breeze, I've

15:48

been thinking she only wanted to have

15:50

two kids. But. Now she's

15:53

sure. Not

15:55

not see how. He

15:59

seconds ago. I

16:03

thought a lot about Brisa after our conversation.

16:06

For her, living on the border

16:08

meant possibility, increased options, for

16:10

work, for medical treatment, but

16:13

it had also separated her from her family

16:15

and pushed her to choose a riskier option

16:17

for her own health care. I

16:21

wondered about the aftermath of that decision, what

16:23

the border would mean for her as a mom, and

16:26

whether a year and a half after her

16:28

childbirth odyssey, she felt like she'd made

16:31

the right call. So this

16:33

summer I went to go meet her in

16:35

Presidio, at her job after Mexican conflict. Brisa

16:44

told me she'd been worried about what it would be

16:46

like to go back to work after a maternity leave.

16:49

But she said the consulate had been great about it.

16:52

For the first few months, she'd been allowed to go

16:54

home early every day. Now she

16:56

heads out at 4pm to pick up

16:58

Andrea. At

17:00

first, Brisa and Efren weren't sure how

17:03

they were going to handle

17:06

childcare. But

17:13

on this front, the Mexican side of the border had

17:15

come through for them. In Okinawa,

17:17

they found a nursery that would take Andrea

17:19

starting at 3 months. We

17:21

drove across the border into Mexico. No

17:23

stopping required here, the Mexican officials just

17:26

waved us through and then

17:28

pulled up to the daycare. Brisa

17:31

told me

17:34

the nursery was subsidized by

17:36

the federal government. She

17:44

said it charged less for a month of care

17:46

than the small daycare in Presidio did for a

17:48

week. To

17:55

enroll, Andrea had to be registered as

17:57

a Mexican citizen. But compared to

17:59

the process, of getting a U.S. visa,

18:01

signing her up for dual citizenship was

18:03

a breeze. Brisa could do it right

18:05

at work. The

18:12

last time I'd seen Andrea, she was barely a

18:15

month old. Now, at 18

18:17

months, she'd grown into the little boss

18:19

of the family. At

18:24

home, in their new house, she showed off

18:27

her outfit, a pink shirt that said, my

18:29

mom is magical. That's

18:38

Brisa's older daughter, Michelle. They're

18:41

still waiting for her green card and

18:43

evidence. It's now been

18:45

three years since they filed the applications,

18:47

and the length of the whole process has been hard

18:49

on Brisa. In

18:57

the U.S., she says it's still Brisa and

19:00

Andrea against the world. The

19:08

hospital trip wasn't Brisa's last long

19:11

drive to care. Andrea's pediatric appointments

19:13

were in Alpine. Brisa

19:15

had to take the baby alone, and she

19:17

says every time, she panicked about Andrea by

19:19

herself in the back seat. When

19:27

the baby would start to cry, Brisa would

19:30

pull over, leaving the car running to keep

19:32

her warm and breastfeed her there on the

19:34

side of the highway. She'd change Andrea's diaper,

19:37

play music, try to get her to go

19:39

to sleep before getting back on the road. All

19:47

those stops and then what was usually

19:50

a two-hour drive became three hours each

19:52

way. And eventually, Brisa decided

19:54

it didn't make sense. There

19:56

was no pediatrician in Presidio, but they'd have to

19:58

make it work with... the regular doctor.

20:02

When I visited, Efnan was also home, helping

20:04

the girls pack for a trip to see

20:06

their grandma, Laura. He

20:09

told me he still struggles with the ways the

20:11

border keeps him from being able to support Teresa.

20:14

But on the other hand, the limitations

20:16

of the migration system have given him

20:18

the chance to be a really active

20:20

parent to Michelle, especially when

20:23

she was little. He said

20:26

he's found little ways to bond

20:28

with each daughter, dancing

20:37

with them in the morning, getting to know their

20:39

personalities as they form. I asked

20:41

Teresa and Efnan if they felt

20:43

like considering everything. The

20:54

decision to give birth in Texas had been

20:56

worth it. Teresa

21:11

said, to a certain point, yes. But

21:19

if she'd known everything she knows now, she

21:21

might have done things differently from the start.

21:31

Healthcare in the U.S. is overrated,

21:33

she's decided. But

21:45

if you're willing to try it, you give your

21:47

kids options. If they want to study, if they

21:49

want to work, if they want to travel, then

21:52

they can. And in the end,

21:54

she said, this was the most important

21:56

decision she and Efnan had made as parents.

22:00

Is your I remember there is.

22:02

A monopoly of them have a personality and

22:04

I say years a be anything noticeable difference

22:06

to me that social for nausea she told

22:08

me we could have said what are be

22:11

born here. But. We said no.

22:13

We're going to give her the opportunity to not

22:15

have to struggle. with

22:18

it so close. Once we finished talking but he

22:20

said or of me back across the bridge, stopping

22:22

at the kiosk to show the customs. Officer

22:24

or documents. While

22:30

he waited for him to skyn my passport

22:32

I thought about how this everyday experience for

22:34

but he sat as one that half her

22:37

family still doesn't share. The. West Texas

22:39

highways define this region for so many

22:41

of Us. And. They were the

22:43

sight of breezes, scariest moments, and the

22:46

first experiences of her daughter's life. Is

22:49

a phone and Elizabeth it's own

22:51

your equipment manager there him to

22:53

determine the for today only mans

22:55

the years of he has his

22:57

he suddenly and an elixir Sea

22:59

Breezes says she tells her family

23:01

I can still smell the oil

23:03

She remembers the moon, the highway,

23:05

the cars honking, her body twisted

23:07

up like the girl in the

23:09

Exorcist. But. That landscape.

23:11

Those roads lisa husband has

23:13

never even seen them. Can't.

23:15

Imagine them. So. When she

23:17

found herself scrambling to make game time

23:20

decisions on the road, she says he

23:22

told her you make the call. I.

23:24

Can't tell you what to do? Before.

23:26

I met, but he said I thought mostly about

23:29

the loneliness that comes from a lack of options

23:31

when it comes to care. But.

23:33

Hearing that I thought here's a

23:35

different kind of isolation. One.

23:38

That comes with choices. Having.

23:40

To make decisions without being sure what's

23:42

right. And having to do it

23:44

alone. But

23:51

it's a drop me at the consulate and then

23:53

turned around across the border again. As

23:56

he drove off, I thought about something she'd

23:58

said earlier when I asked what you wanted

24:00

to do when all the visas were approved

24:02

and her family could come to Texas together.

24:09

She told me she wanted to bring them

24:11

to the observatory in for davis says the

24:13

the marshall like. As

24:16

never, life is as good as it.

24:18

and it was a television scare losers

24:20

in Nicholas and. He just didn't. Citizen

24:22

of them were known as as and

24:24

a group of. Tourists

24:27

come from all over the world to peer

24:29

through a telescope. At the Stars which.

24:31

Sign. More brightly here than almost anywhere

24:33

else in the country. Lisa

24:35

said she wants her family to be able to

24:38

see. Them to. Have

24:47

pursued of so Far from Care was

24:49

produced by Zoe, Curly and Carlos What

24:51

our lives and me any Rosenthal Mujahid

24:53

as yes I bristle at a smart

24:55

it also for me the output combat

24:57

these three story and. Thanks

25:00

also to Stephanie Quo and Rook

25:02

Sandra Greedy. The music you

25:04

heard it was composed and performed by

25:06

Clara Brill and the episode art is

25:08

by Hannah Gentiles and Deal Kramer. So

25:12

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