Join MCAI in saying “Motherhood Matters”
We're sure that you’ll agree that in an age when deaths during pregnancy/childbirth are rare in the UK, it is appalling that mothers in other countries are still at such high risk of death or injury. The facts about maternal mortality are startling:
- Complications during pregnancy or childbirth are the leading cause of death for women in Africa (taken from the UNFPA Factsheet).
- Every year an additional 2 million children worldwide are maternal orphans.
- More than 80% of maternal deaths worldwide are due to five direct causes: haemorrhage, sepsis, unsafe abortion, obstructed labour and hypertensive disease of pregnancy.
(taken from UNFPA’s: Safe Motherhood website)
We have already trained over 800 health workers in The Gambia how to better deal with medical emergencies, especially maternal and neonatal. But we need to do more. Please read about Fatou to find out about the types of barriers there are to receiving appropriate emergency care.
Fatou found that getting to hospital was a problem
Fatou is pictured above with her two day old baby girl at Brikama Major Health Centre in The Gambia. Fatou
lives in a village 60 km from Brikama. She was referred to Brikama by her village clinic because of her high blood pressure. Only with the help of a relative could Fatou pay for transport to Brikama. After a normal birth she still had high blood pressure and was waiting for further treatment. Travel costs can be a barrier to getting treatment. We have been working to improve transport through our Strengthening Emergency Care programme called SEC.
Please read about our programme and find out more
Here’s how you can make your commitment to helping us improve healthcare for pregnant women and their babies:
Please let us know how you would like to commit to our campaign and help improve healthcare
Complete the form below: