International Women's Day

 

 

 

On March 8^th, we celebrated International Women’s Day. Over the last century, we have seen unprecedented progress in developing ways to support women, most notably mothers and their children. Medical breakthroughs have provided new ways to save mothers before, during and after birth and to ensure children are born health, happy, and with full health. The technology exists, the research on best practices is robust, and the requirements to save mothers and babies are known. We have the answers.

 

And yet, every day, approximately 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth [World Health Organization, WHO Statistics]. 99% of these are in developing countries. Poor mothers and mothers living in rural areas face the biggest risks.

 

But why?

 

The answer is simply a matter of inequality. The solutions that save mothers lives are only accessible to some instead of all women. 

 

I spent the last four years working in East Africa, primarily Kenya and Uganda, on a series of projects including projects to support safe motherhood and ensure no woman dies while giving life.

 

I have worked in health facilities where simple supplies like latex gloves and razors to cut the umbilical cords of babies are out of supply. I have seen women lose their babies in childbirth because they had to wait too long to see a medical professional after the health facility lost funding to pay the nurses. I have seen women having an obstetric emergency carried ten miles on the back of their family members to the closest facility because they couldn’t afford any other form of transport.

 

But I have also seen incredible resiliency in light of these challenges. I have met a nurse that delivered a baby to the light of a single candle after her town was flooded and all roads washed away. I have seen communities cook food and provide childcare for the nurses that worked long hours after staff shortages.

 

More than anything, I have seen hope. The world is joined together in the belief that no woman should die while giving life, the solutions to ensure they don’t die exist, and the commitment by the communities most affected is stronger than ever.

 

Now it is in the hands of every citizen across the globe to step up and ensure health facilities have the supplies they need, health workers receive the training and resources they need, and we support the poorest women in ensuring they can access and afford those services.