There's nothing wrong with hospitals, Carrie Blake acknowledges.

It's just they're not always necessary, she said. At least, not for giving birth.

"Birth's not an illness, and a hospital is typically where you go if you have some sort of problem," the Athol midwife pointed out on Friday.

That seems to be the popular idea in North Idaho. While home births are about 1 percent of all births nationwide, she noted, in Kootenai County it's close to 10 percent.

So the mother of five, who admitted she is on call around the clock, has helped about 500 families with home births since in the last decade, she said, 300 as a primary midwife with training spanning prenatal to postpartum.

"It's crazy. It's humbling and hard, but good," said Blake, certified through the North American Registry of Midwives. "It's good to be able to provide alternative birth options."

In some areas of the world, though, home birth is the only option.

Like Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where Blake will visit next month to teach 20 to 40 midwives about everything needed for a safe, normal birth.

Headed with a small group of midwives from across the U.S., Blake said she will give evidence-based training on basic neonatal resuscitation skills and clean birth practices to Haiti "street midwives," whose clientele live in tent cities.

"Anywhere in the developing world, most babies are born outside of hospitals," explained Blake, who also trained midwives in Senegal in 2005.

Maternal and infant mortality rates are extremely high in Haiti, she said - but they don't have to be. Blake pointed out that most pregnancies and births are low risk.

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"There are some very simple techniques like clean birth kits and basic skills that if they're taught, evidence shows that will make a big difference," she said.

The April 16 trip, scheduled to last a week, will be the first of a series, she said. The effort is part of a project Blake has been developing, Train Midwives Saves Lives, that uses pictorial training to teach women about helping with birth, regardless of their education.

She is also collecting donations to provide basic materials besides birth kits, including soap, dental floss and clippers.

While in Haiti, Blake hopes to field test a new smart phone app on safe pregnancy.

"Surprisingly in the developing world, they have smart phones," she said.

For more information on Blake's efforts, visit her blog, http://fundly.com/trainmidwivessavelives.

Blake and the midwives she is traveling with will have bodyguards while they are in Haiti, she added.

"It has its risks," the 43-year-old acknowledged.

But Blake, who said prayer inspired her to become a midwife 10 years back, is passionate about ensuring women and babies enjoy safe births in third world countries.

Blake plans to go on another training expedition in August, she added.

"In the developing world, women - traditional birth attendants - are helping with births while receiving little or no evidence-based training on safe birth practices," she said. "I'm driven to help solve that problem."