Christy's Diary: On the Road with Every Mother Counts - San Francisco, California

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.

We had a great turnout and a nice conversation about making the film and what we hope it inspires with regard to public engagement on the issue. Each of us has skills we can lend to a cause like this because it touches us all and so I invited the crowd to find ways to lend support and participate.

From Google, we drove into the city to UCSF’s new Mission Bay Campus where we screened the entire film for Global Health students, midwives, practitioners, and the general public. Following the screening was a panel discussion with some of my friends who brought me to San Francisco for this trip. Each is an expert in their own right in maternal health and human rights. Suellen Miller, PhD is Director, Safe Motherhood Programs Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and UCSF Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health and Policy, School of Medicine University of California, San Francisco and one of the technical advisers on the film. She practiced midwifery for thirty years before receiving her PhD at UCSF. She has a unique set of experiences and knowledge that has been incredibly inspiring to me as a maternal advocate, public health student and champion of midwives around the world.

Nan Strauss is an Amnesty International researcher whom I met throughout the filming process of NO WOMAN, NO CRY as she was compiling critical data on maternal mortality in America at the same time. She was also an invaluable resource on the film as our official researcher. Nan is in town for Amnesty International’s 50th Anniversary this weekend and so we'll see her again! And last but certainly not least, our panel moderator, Sally Rankin RN, PhD, FAAN, the interim Dean at the School of  Nursing at UCSF. She has been involved in international health as a nursing professor for the past two decades, teaching, consulting, and conducting research. Her many roles in the School include professor and chair in the Department of Family Health Care Nursing, associate dean for International Programs, and director of the UCSF WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Training in Nursing.

Our discussion touched on some new data on the US and safe motherhood, which, unfortunately for our country has declined since the completion of NO WOMAN, NO CRY from a ranking of 41^st to 50^th. This led into a conversation covering some of the challenges both domestically and internationally that we’re currently facing. We concluded with noting some actions people can take to get involved. 

Suellen's major research focus is on the NASG/Lifewrap program, a project tha uses a non-inflatable compression first aid device that decreases bleeding and hastens recovery from shock in women who experience obstetric hemorrhage, the major killer of childbearing women domestically and internationally. Nan spoke about some new US legislation that was introduced earlier this month and I encouraged folks to use their voice and visit Every Mother Counts on May 7th for options on how to engage in a meaningful way. We’ll provide you with the opportunity to simply register your concern and interest in maternal health, sign up to host a viewing party when the film airs, tell your own story through an interactive map, collect used cell phones to help connect health providers in Africa, or raise or donate funds to train midwives and ship medical equipment and supplies to clinics in need.