03/11/2022
Besides supporting families through birth in Chicagoland, we at Family First have a heart for new mothers around the world. Especially those facing extra challenges. For every birth we attend, we make a donation to an amazing organization, Every Mother Counts.
Here is their recent statement about what is happening in Ukraine:
Around the world, more than 60 percent of maternal deaths take place in countries experiencing humanitarian crises.
Over the last several weeks, the Every Mother Counts community has been horrified by reports of pregnant and newly postpartum people struggling to access the maternity care they need in makeshift and shell-damaged wards. Most recently, images of the destruction of an operational maternity hospital in Mariupol has demonstrated–yet again and in the starkest way possible–how, in the face of violent conflict, it is so often pregnant women and children who bear the brunt of the aggression.
Today and every day, Every Mother Counts stands with the mothers and families in Ukraine who have been forced to flee their homes, separate from their loved ones, and seek lifesaving maternity care in a dangerous and rapidly deteriorating situation.
In times like these, we remain committed to our mission: to ensure equitable access to safe and respectful maternity care for all. Our strength comes in standing together. Now more than ever.
Every Mother Counts is currently reaching out to organizations from and working in the region to find out what is most needed on the ground, and how we can best support mothers and pregnant people in Ukraine going forward.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to this work, to the mothers and families impacted, and will provide more information at the earliest possible time.
The coming days and weeks will be filled with uncertainty as the conflict continues to unfold. One truth that remains: every mother deserves access to the maternity care she needs, and every mother counts.
Sincerely,
The Every Mother Counts team
