COMMUNITY NEWS: Lend a hand tomorrow (5.9.12)!

I just got a note about the following event at Mount Sinai tomorrow (May 9, 2012) from 1-3pm.  If you are in the area and free to stop by, I think it looks like a great opportunity to volunteer to promote and protect women's health on a global scale.  If you cannot stop by in person, think about giving $5 by texting "MOTHERS" to 50555.   

In advance of Mother’s Day, Mount Sinai staff and patients, including new moms and moms-to-be, will be assembling donated supplies such as beanies, blankets, and sanitary pads, for clean birth kits to be delivered to local hospitals in Liberia and Guatemala as part of the Saving Mothers program at Mount Sinai. The event will take place at 1176 5th Ave on Wednesday, May 9, from 1 – 3 pm.

Each year, more than 340,000 women around the world die due to childbirth-related complications.  Out of every 100,000 live births in Guatemala there are an estimated 290 deaths; in Liberia the death rate is 994. Compared to only 14 deaths out of 100,000 live births in the developed world, these are staggering statistics.

Most of these maternal deaths could be prevented with basic supplies that would ensure hygienic births. 

Saving Mothers, a program spearheaded by Dr. Taraneh Shirazian, Director of Global Women’s Health at Mount Sinai, aims to give these underserved women and their health care providers the tools they need to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity. Saving Mothers has been asking new mothers, who may have more resources than they need, to donate supplies for clean birth kits to make births safer and more sanitary in the developing world.

Saving Mothers has also launched a text message campaign asking for a $5 donation by texting “MOTHERS” to 50555 to help pay for additional kits.

Saving Mothers' Clean Birth Kits include basic materials chosen to prevent the infections that lead to maternal death as well as detailed pictorial instructions to the kits to make them easier to use and understand. Dr. Shirazian and her team will bring these birth kits to Guatemala, Liberia, and other countries in need as part of their program to help educate the traditional birth attendants and midwives who currently provide obstetric care.