Maternal and Child Health

Saving and improving the lives of girls and women is central to tackling every issue — whether poverty, nutrition, education, child health, economic prosperity, environment — of, in short, saving the world. And one of the greatest gaps has been in addressing maternal health which has prevented the achievement of any real development progress for decades.

Do you know that it is still the case that well over 500,000 girls and women die every year during childbirth — that’s one a minute. And for every mother that dies, 20 — perhaps 30 — times that number are left permanently injured. And of those that die, the vast majority are victim to easily preventable causes.

For millions of women getting pregnant and approaching childbirth means fear and trepidation of death rather than joy and anticipation for life.

We know that if a mother dies in childbirth her newborn child will be 10 times more likely to perish in those first important few months of life — especially girls. Her oldest female child may be forced to stay at home to care for her siblings, or worse be forced in to an early marriage to help relieve the financial burden on the family.

We know that a girl who receives an education, is more likely to marry later, more likely to have her first child later and more likely to survive childbirth — and a mother’s presence in her child’s life makes all the difference — she is willing to address whatever challenges her child faces as no one else will.