BRICK BY BRICK NEWSLETTER JUNE 2016
For our first E-newsletter we are focusing on our most ambitious program to date, our:
Babies and Mothers Alive (BAMA) Program.
Every year 6,000 mothers and 34,000 newborns die needlessly in Uganda from complications that are easily treated in the U.S and elsewhere. Why are so many women and babies dying in Uganda and throughout the developing world? We know that the majority of these deaths can be prevented by addressing each of 3-Delays:
- Delay in seeking care
- Delay in reaching care
- Delay in receiving care
Women living in rural communities often lack the knowledge of when to begin to seek maternal health care services. Gender inequality robs many women of the power to make this life saving decision. Once a woman in labor chooses to seek care at a health facility she often faces tremendous challenges due to poor transportation systems, roads and lack of funds. The final insult is that once a woman reaches a hospital she often finds providers who lack the knowledge and skills needed to handle even the most common of obstetric complications, shortages of life saving medications, surgical equipment or the facility to provide blood transfusions.
In the coming months we will provide updates, photos and personal stories documenting both our successes and challenges. Please watch the deeply moving video below that tells the story of why our mothers, sisters and daughters are dying and what we can do to avert this on-going tragedy.
Thank you for all your support that makes our work possible. If you would like to find out more about our work, please e-mail me with any questions or feedback at marcsklar@brickbybrick.org
[video width="640" height="360" mp4="http://www.brickbybrick.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Extract-from-Why-Did-Mrs-X-Die-Retold-SD-1.mp4"][/video]
