March, 2011

When I set out to make “No Woman, No Cry,” a documentary film about the Global state of maternal health three years ago, I had no idea just how dismal a job we were doing for our nation’s families. I was inspired to highlight the under-reported issue of maternal mortality after learning that almost all of the hundreds of thousands of maternal deaths that occur each year are preventable. Yes, 90 percent! And yet, when I came to know these facts, I discovered that little progress had been reported (for decades) in many countries around the world. We, as a global community, could and should be doing more if we value our women. The majority of the global burden of maternal deaths occurs in the developing world. In fact, 66% occur in just 11 countries. While this statistic is an unjust reality, it may not be all that surprising. What did rattle me was the fact that the United States was ranked behind 40 other countries with regard to maternal care, leaving us in 41st place. As recently as last year, this number has dropped again. According to new UN data released late last year, we now find ourselves behind 49 other countries, positioning ourselves in 50th place when it comes to a woman’s risk of dying from complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

We were certainly sleepless in Seattle when we woke up early on day 2 of our 5-day, 3 city Every Mother Counts tour. Second stop, a place I know quite well, San Francisco! It’s always nice to come home to the Bay Area where I was born and raised. After landing into SFO we headed directly to the Google Campus in Mountain View to screen a portion of "No Woman, No Cry" and participate in a Q&A with the Googlers who came out to see the film. We were also lucky to have a few moments before the fireside chat to meet with the women leaders of Google, who represent a broad array of functions and skill sets across the entire organization. Needless to say, Google has a profoundly impressive group of women at their organization.

Why does maternal health remain the luxury of the world's most privileged - and what will it take to make motherhood safer for the world's poor?

The 100-year anniversary of International Women's Day festivities and events kicked off Women's History month with more than a boom yesterday. What an exciting week for girls and women! I was honored to be invited to submit an Op-Ed in yesterday’s Huffington Post among such inspiring women on such an important day for all of us, especially those dedicated to improving the lives of girls and women around the world. The collective messages from all were clear - we have much to celebrate but a long way yet to go. Let us share from hard lessons learned and use innovations in technology and science to quicken the pace for the next 100 years. And so, yesterday morning I took the train from NYC to Washington, DC to participate in today’s 2011 CARE National Advocacy Conference and also to attend the launch of a new USAID initiative.