Caring Causes: UNFPA Childbirth Program

Mother's Day, celebrated on May 13 in the United States, is a day to honor and celebrate the mothers and women in our lives. This Mother's Day, you can learn about the global challenges of motherhood and celebrate your mother by saving another.

While most expectant mothers have the same hopes and dreams, not all of them face the same outcomes when giving birth. In fact, maternal death is one of the leading causes of death today. Every 90 seconds, a woman dies in pregnancy and childbirth. Ninety percent of these deaths occur in the developing world, and nearly all of these deaths could have been prevented with access to contraceptives, skilled care or medicine. While the solutions on how to save pregnant women are known, the resources to support these efforts are lagging. UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, provides skilled care for mothers like Antoinette, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and works to ensure that no mother dies while giving life. Thanks to UNFPA, Antoinette recently gave birth in a maternity ward with a clean delivery kit. This is a monumental change to her previous two deliveries, experienced the brunt of the war, where she delivered her children on banana leaves. Lacking traditional medical tools, or skilled care, a machete was used to cut umbilical cords. Such limitations are both life threatening and unsafe. While she survived under these conditions many mothers do not have the same fortune.

When you support UNFPA by making a gift in honor of mothers everywhere, UNFPA will send your mother an e-card acknowledging the gift made in their honor. You can learn more about the program here.