A Call to Action, A Campaign for Hope, A Movement for Change

Written by Million Moms Challenge.

The Million Moms Challenge is an initiative created by ABC News and the United Nations Foundation to connect mothers, and those who love them, in the USA to mothers all around the world.

That’s how they met Audrey in Tanzania who says that her greatest fear is to be pregnant again, or to see her friends pregnant. Not because she doesn’t want more children, but because she is afraid of dying. The deliveries of both of her children were filled with dangerous complications. With her second child, a lack of education and training of the nursing staff had her fighting for her life. As Audrey manages her family, cares for an ill parent and works as an accountant, she dreams of making sure that when a woman is pregnant she can feel sure she and her baby will be safe and sound.

The goal of the Million Moms Challenge is to be an amplifier for partners like Every Mother Counts, UNICEF, Save the Children and others. They create awareness, invite advocacy and fundraising on the many issues faced by mothers and children around the world – whether it’s improving nutrition for a pregnant mother, helping to train midwives or delivering life-saving vaccines to help children reach their 5^th birthdays.

In Africa, 1 in 5 women will lose a baby in her lifetime. In wealthier regions that number is 1 in 125. A woman dies every 90 seconds from a pregnancy or birth related complication. These numbers are vast and they are horrific -- that makes them difficult to comprehend. But when we put ourselves in Audrey’s shoes, when we imagine what it’s like to fear for our lives simply because we conceived – that brings us a little closer to the issues. And hopefully inspires us to action.