A mother is killed by childbirth every minute

Every minute, of every day, a Mother dies from complications in pregnancy. 99% of these Mothers are from the developing world.  For each and every Mother that loses her life in pregnancy, there are many more that are tragically injured or permanently disabled.

No Woman should die giving life to her baby, yet the problem of Mothers dying in childbirth is enormous. 500,000 women every year lose their lives because of pregnancy related complications. 99% of these women that lose their lives are from the developing world.

For each and every woman that dies in pregnancy, 20 more are tragically injured or permanently disabled. These poor women often have to suffer the horrific consequences of the injuries that they have sustained in pregnancy, meaning that they are often unable to work and provide for their family, or are outcast from their community (for example if they are unable to become pregnant again, or have an injury such as a fistula which can cause women to become incontinent (leak urine and faeces through their vagina and back passage)

Another heartbreaking consequence of these Mothers dying, are the million children that they leave motherless each year. Babies who survive the death of their mothers are at huge risk, with no breast milk, no sterile bottles and no clean water for the formula, they rarely live to see their first birthday.

The most upsetting fact, is knowing that most of these deaths are preventable. 500,000 Mothers, Wives and Sisters are losing their lives unnecessarily. 80% of these women could be saved by simple and affordable actions, even in the poorest countries.

Yet Women in the developing world are not often heard, they are voiceless, and powerless to change this tragedy. But we are not; we must make society see that these women have a right to life….. These are lives worth saving!