Proyecto Tejiendo Vida Venezuela
About Us
How we weave it all together
Life is not built in isolation.
It is woven.
Midwives hold space for mothers.
Mothers knit life into their children.
Children grow within families.
Families strengthen communities.
And communities, when rooted in care, hold mothers in return.
Tejiendo Vida — Knitting Life — is both our name and our philosophy.
By strengthening each thread — education, care, dignity, and knowledge — we help restore the fabric of maternal health in Venezuela. One woman, one birth, one community at a time.
Our Founders Story
Josefina Betancourt de Ibarra
In 1935, my great-grandmother Josefina died from a postpartum hemorrhage in Caracas, Venezuela, leaving my grandfather—then only 18 months old —without a mother to love or raise him. Growing up, my grandfather’s story of courage, unconventional love, and quiet pain always stayed with me. But it wasn’t until I became a mother myself that I fully grasped the depth of that loss. I began to understand the true tragedy behind his story — and the lifelong impact of losing a mother at birth. Stories like his should belong to the past. They should be unthinkable in 2026. Yet in Venezuela, every day, babies and children continue to lose their mothers to preventable complications.
My professional journey began in public policy and stakeholder engagement. After my own three very different birth experiences — and through working directly with mothers and midwives in Canada, my career evolved into advocacy, and grassroots maternal health work. This led to me contribute to the development and expansion of midwifery education in Canada, including work supporting two new academic midwifery programs designed to address gaps in care for rural, remote, Indigenous, and Francophone communities. This work showed me, firsthand, how midwifery saves and improves lives — consistently and with dignity.
This awoke a realization and commitment: proven, evidence-based solutions to improve maternal health already exist and this is the area I wish to contribute in the reconstruction of my birth country, Venezuela. By building strong frameworks, forging partnerships, and working collaboratively toward a shared goal, we can create meaningful and lasting change in the lives of women, children, and families.
Mothers in Venezuela have endured years of needless suffering. This work exists for and because of them — grounded in respect, focused on long-term impact, and committed to sustainable solutions that ensure no mother is forgotten.
Sincerely,
Victoria Carolina Ramírez Betancourt, Founder & Executive Director Tejiendo Vida Venezuela
Our Team
Founder & Executive Director
Victoria Ramírez Betancourt, B.A, MPM
Board of Directors
Alexandra Barreto, B.A
Adriana Rodriguez, MD
Jessica Barahona, B.A
Founding Clinical Team
Dr. Adriana Rodriguez
Dr. Axa Pinto
Dr. Rita Salerno
Board of Advisors
Coming soon...
Dr. Olga Ramírez de Freitas