April, 2011

Last night, Christy was a guest on Charlie Rose, discussing the importance of improved maternal health and her documentary film, "No Woman, No Cry" about maternal mortality in Bangladesh, Tanzania, Guatemala and the United States. The film will be premiering on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network on May 7th at 9:30pm ET.

Every Mother Counts is thrilled to announce a new feature of www.everymothercounts.org- the Share Your Story page. This interactive online collage includes stories of moms from around the world who are all connected. Using stories, photos, tweets, and videos, the wall is a place to share your own story or a story of a mom you love and reflect on how universal the experience of pregnancy, childbirth and even motherhood truly are. Explore the wall, read the stories, but more importantly-post your own! This wall is a great way to engage on the issue and be a part of the Count Me In! Campaign. The only thing missing is you!

In order to make a difference, Every Mother Counts has partnered with Save the Children to train more midwives in the country with the highest maternal mortality rates in the world—Afghanistan. Afghanistan is one of the riskiest places on earth for the health of mothers and children. Only 14 percent of births are attended by skilled personnel and maternal and child mortality rates are among the highest in the world. Afghan women face a 1 in 8 risk of dying from complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

August 2009. Vogue magazine had a profile on Christy Turlington Burns. Mother. Director. Activist, and yes, something about being a Supermodel, too. What struck me most in reading this article was her passion for the issue of maternal health and the fact that she was using her name and influence for a greater good. After her own experience of giving birth with complications, she had chosen to bring greater awareness to the issue by directing and co-producing No Woman, No Cry, a documentary about maternal health. It tells the compelling stories of at-risk pregnant women in four parts of the world (Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala and the United States). Moved and inspired by her message and by my wife’s life-threatening experiences giving birth to both my sons, I pondered how Starbucks could support this profound project – to bring a greater spotlight on the conditions and complications surrounding childbirth worldwide and to help reduce the hundreds of thousands of women who die every year as a result of inadequate care. One of the U.N.’s Millennium Development goals is to reduce maternal mortality by 75% by the year 2015.