Every Partner Counts

When a woman dies because of a childbirth related complication, the family she leaves behind is emotionally devastated and her children suffer greatly.

287,000 girls and women die every year around the world from largely preventable causes when bringing life into the world. That's almost 800 women every day. These women are not only mothers, they are daughters, wives, sisters, friends....

The loss of a mother is a tragedy, period. It is unfathomable for most of us to imagine anything much worse. But we don't often consider the loss from the perspective of a father.

A few years ago while making “No Woman, No Cry,” we interviewed several family members to hear from their perspectives and in their own words what it is to lose someone you love so suddenly. Needless to say, these were some of the more emotional days of all our filming. These testimonies are not only incredibly heartbreaking; they are inspiring in many ways. We wanted to honor some of them this Father's Day who, in spite of their loss and despair, have carried on.

More Every Partner Counts Father's Day Posts:

• Ditch the Tie; Forget the Tools—How to Honor Father’s Day with Lasting Impact by Laura Bibelheimer
• Every Father Counts by Christy Turlington Burns
• Five Years Later by Judah Schiller
• Memories Never Sleep by George A. Goens
• Men Cannot Become Fathers Without Mothers by Sunil Desai
• Papa Can You See Me? by Laura Bibelheimer