After suffering a postpartum haemorrhage while giving birth to her first child, Christy Turlington learned that the lack of reproductive health care worldwide results in 500,000 maternal mortalities a year.
The realization that 90% of these deaths are preventable led Christy on her crusade to raise awareness for women, working as an advocate for maternal health and reproductive rights.
Two years after her own experience, and six months pregnant with her son Finn, Christy went with CARE to El Salvador and witnessed the terrifying conditions endured by pregnant women.
‘Pregnant women and new mothers had to walk ten or more miles to get clean water,’ she says. ‘It was a catalytic moment. I wanted to find out more about these women, to delve in and get my hands dirty.’
It was three years later, on a trip to Peru, that the supermodel came up with the idea of making her own documentary No Woman, No Cry to educate women on local health services. In her gripping directorial debut, Christy shares the powerful stories of impoverished women during the final harrowing days of their pregnancies in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala and the US.Turlington recalls a woman in Guatemala who was in hospital following a botched abortion of a baby conceived through rape. During her six weeks there, her husband and family didn’t visit her once because of the social stigma.‘By the time we started editing I was so fired up I could work 15 hour days without thinking,’ she says. On viewing the footage, shes says; ‘First of all you go in to deep shock, after that comes anger.’Since finishing her film, Turlington has gone on to launch the Every Mother Counts campaign and website to raise money and help people learn more about the issues of maternal mortality and the extent of the problem worldwide.‘Right now we are at a critical moment,’ says Turlington. ‘Maternal and child health was at the centre of the G8 summit last year, and this project provides a perfect opportunity for the first world to build on the momentum of the past few years.’
www.everymothercounts.org
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Maternal Mortality
I haven't much to do this morning and the weather looked amazing out side my window and decided to take the kids out to my favorite hangout and relax. I forgot to take my book with me so I made a stop and picked a couple of magazines. While enjoying my latte I browsed through Marie Claire's March issue and the title of an article caught my attention.
I usually cringe from this particular subject because of the truma I've been through while giving birth to Ahmed but I reminded myself that I am blessed, alhamdullah, the best doctors and facilities were provided for me. I am still here today, seeing my kids healthy and growing up before my eyes and I am there for them, unlike unfortunate orphans who lost their mother's in childbirth. I read the article and in the middle of the coffee shop I was choking and my eyes watering, almost sobbing out loud. The women sitting next to me sat alret, something in the expression on my face alerted them something was wrong. How stupid would I look if they found out I was on the verge of tears over and article. This subject is important to me. Yes, even four years later I still remember it as if it was yesterday. I can't imagine what would have happened to me if I was in one of those poor countries. I took a deep breath, thank God for being blessed. Something must be done to help these women and sharing this article is the least I can do.
This article is a must read.
After suffering a postpartum haemorrhage while giving birth to her first child, Christy Turlington learned that the lack of reproductive health care worldwide results in 500,000 maternal mortalities a year.
The realization that 90% of these deaths are preventable led Christy on her crusade to raise awareness for women, working as an advocate for maternal health and reproductive rights.
Two years after her own experience, and six months pregnant with her son Finn, Christy went with CARE to El Salvador and witnessed the terrifying conditions endured by pregnant women.
‘Pregnant women and new mothers had to walk ten or more miles to get clean water,’ she says. ‘It was a catalytic moment. I wanted to find out more about these women, to delve in and get my hands dirty.’
It was three years later, on a trip to Peru, that the supermodel came up with the idea of making her own documentary No Woman, No Cry to educate women on local health services. In her gripping directorial debut, Christy shares the powerful stories of impoverished women during the final harrowing days of their pregnancies in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala and the US.Turlington recalls a woman in Guatemala who was in hospital following a botched abortion of a baby conceived through rape. During her six weeks there, her husband and family didn’t visit her once because of the social stigma.‘By the time we started editing I was so fired up I could work 15 hour days without thinking,’ she says. On viewing the footage, shes says; ‘First of all you go in to deep shock, after that comes anger.’Since finishing her film, Turlington has gone on to launch the Every Mother Counts campaign and website to raise money and help people learn more about the issues of maternal mortality and the extent of the problem worldwide.‘Right now we are at a critical moment,’ says Turlington. ‘Maternal and child health was at the centre of the G8 summit last year, and this project provides a perfect opportunity for the first world to build on the momentum of the past few years.’
www.everymothercounts.org
After suffering a postpartum haemorrhage while giving birth to her first child, Christy Turlington learned that the lack of reproductive health care worldwide results in 500,000 maternal mortalities a year.
The realization that 90% of these deaths are preventable led Christy on her crusade to raise awareness for women, working as an advocate for maternal health and reproductive rights.
Two years after her own experience, and six months pregnant with her son Finn, Christy went with CARE to El Salvador and witnessed the terrifying conditions endured by pregnant women.
‘Pregnant women and new mothers had to walk ten or more miles to get clean water,’ she says. ‘It was a catalytic moment. I wanted to find out more about these women, to delve in and get my hands dirty.’
It was three years later, on a trip to Peru, that the supermodel came up with the idea of making her own documentary No Woman, No Cry to educate women on local health services. In her gripping directorial debut, Christy shares the powerful stories of impoverished women during the final harrowing days of their pregnancies in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala and the US.Turlington recalls a woman in Guatemala who was in hospital following a botched abortion of a baby conceived through rape. During her six weeks there, her husband and family didn’t visit her once because of the social stigma.‘By the time we started editing I was so fired up I could work 15 hour days without thinking,’ she says. On viewing the footage, shes says; ‘First of all you go in to deep shock, after that comes anger.’Since finishing her film, Turlington has gone on to launch the Every Mother Counts campaign and website to raise money and help people learn more about the issues of maternal mortality and the extent of the problem worldwide.‘Right now we are at a critical moment,’ says Turlington. ‘Maternal and child health was at the centre of the G8 summit last year, and this project provides a perfect opportunity for the first world to build on the momentum of the past few years.’
www.everymothercounts.org
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High rates of maternal deaths occur due to poor nutrition and medical care. In developing nations, as well as rural areas the mortality rate is more due to lack of skilled medical care during childbirth and the distance of traveling to the nearest clinic.
ReplyDeleteTo reduce the mortality, advanced health programmes should be introduced to help the poor countries.
I would like to suggest a documentary related to this article, “No Woman Should Die Giving Birth: Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone” a painful documentary, where over 50% live on less then one dollar a day and a quarter live in extreme poverty, the poorer you are the more likely you are to die giving birth.
To watch this documentary online visit : http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/4897