Where in the world will you have your baby? It’s a question you probably haven’t considered, but for millions of women around the globe, it makes all the difference.
Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby
WHAT ARE THE REALITIES OF 21ST CENTURY PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH?
Every day, thousands of women worldwide give birth to new human life. While many of these women will have happy and successful deliveries, hundreds will die in childbirth. How do things like geography, income, and age affect your chances of a safe delivery? What is being done to improve upon the world’s maternal mortality rate, and how can you get involved?
Explore the Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby gallery to find out.
ART, WRITING, AND MULTIMEDIA FROM WOMEN AND MEN AROUND THE WORLD
-
This photo essay shows the mothers and children of Bangladesh, where extreme poverty reigns but maternal health has improved in recent years.
-
A woman in Colombia gives birth in this short film, which also illuminates the problems related to limited medical resources for women.
-
This photo essay depicts pregnant women in Nepal and introduces us to the men and women who guide mothers through a healthy delivery.
-
As a way to process and release the pain and anger around her traumatic labor and delivery, Renee Hoffman created this Cesarean Quilt.
-
Sarah Henderson tells the story of an Ethiopian woman who suffered from fistula and who received care at Hamlin Fistula Hospital.
-
Sasja van Vechgel, alongside the Foxes NGO, photographed mothers, children, and families affected by the HIV/AIDS endemic in Tanzania.
HEROES WORKING TO ADVANCE THE RIGHTS OF MOTHERS AND CHILDREN
-
Dr. Rahel Nardos is improving maternal health in Ethiopia one woman at a time, by training Ethiopian doctors and midwives in life-saving obstetric procedures and preventative maternal health.
-
Rhoda Amafumba, a midwife and nurse for more than 25 years in Lusaka, Zambia, trains midwifes in use of the LifeWrap, a groundbreaking first-aid device that saves mothers’ lives.
THOUGHT LEADERS PRESENT PROVOCATIVE, INNOVATIVE IDEAS
-
Brigid McConville of The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood implores everyone to become a part of a grassroots movement to increase maternal health services abroad.
-
Christy Turlington Burns explains that in order to make true progress on maternal health, we need to collectively prioritize mothers and advocate on their behalf.
FICTION AND MEMOIR FROM CELEBRATED WOMEN WRITERS
-
Blessing Musariri tells the story of Tinashe, a young Zimbabwean boy. When his mother takes Tinashe away with her in hopes of starting a new life, her young son must confront incomprehensible loss.
-
Leila Aboulela tells the story of a pregnant woman who recently moved to a new city for her husband's job; she is often alone, and feels uncertain and unmoored as she awaits the birth of her baby.
-
Sierra Leonian writer Aminatta Forna tells the story of a girl with a charismatic mother who was the favorite wife of her father, but also the target of judgments and criticisms from others in their community.
-
Samina Ali tells about her medically dangerous labor and delivery, during which she almost died, and what she learned from her infant son during her long period of rehabilitation.
-
Maggie Gee describes the growing pains she experienced as her daughter grew older and as she attempted to balance work and motherhood.
-
Beatrice Lamwaka's "Butterfly Dreams" is the story of a young woman who returns to her mother after five years of being a child soldier.
-
Valerie Mason-John tells the affecting story of a woman in Sierra Leone who lost many of her children and watched her country be torn apart by war and the search for blood diamonds.
FRANK AND INSPIRING INTERVIEWS WITH 11 MOTHERS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE