71 Women Members of Congress, Celebrities Christy Turlington Burns, Geri Halliwell, and Women’s Rights Advocates Unite in the Nation’s Capitol to Rally for Maternal Health

(Washington, DC) – Twenty years ago, the U.N. calculated that one woman worldwide died every minute from complications of pregnancy and childbirth – this adds up to 10 million per generation. Twenty years later, that figure has not changed. Nearly all of these deaths are preventable. Additionally, according to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, more than 2 million women and girls are living with fistula and they are living reminders of health systems failures. Fistula is a devastating condition that is treatable and preventable.

Among industrialized countries, the United States has some of the highest maternal mortality rates – the U.S. is ranked 41 (out of 171 countries) worldwide, behind the Ukraine, Kuwait, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, among others. The best country is Ireland where an estimated 1 in 47,600 women will die from pregnancy-related causes; the worst is Niger where 1 in 7 women will die; In the United States the risk of women dying is 1 in 4,800.

Women’s rights activists in the United States and around the world are now saying “enough is enough” to maternal deaths and lifelong conditions, specifically obstetric fistula, that result in not having adequate pregnancy care.

Last October, the Speaker sent a small delegation of 5 members, Congresswomen Lois Capps (D-CA), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Donna Christensen (D-VI), to London last October to participate in the Women Deliver Conference.  There, 2,000 leaders from over 100 countries came together to take on the issues related to maternal mortality around the world.  In addition, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) put forward House Resolution 2114, “Repairing Young Women’s Lives Around the World Act” that would provide a U.S. voluntary contribution to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, for the prevention, treatment and repair of obstetric fistula. UNFPA was created in 1969 with the strong support of the U.S. government. Today, 180 countries from all regions of the world (though currently not the United States) provide support to UNFPA’s voluntary programs operating in more than 154 countries.

As a part of this growing movement, “Women Delivering for Women,” members of Congress and women’s rights advocates, including U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and CARE Ambassador Christy Turlington Burns, are heading to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, May 20 to raise awareness of the issues and demonstrate America’s commitment to reducing maternal mortality and pregnancy-related injuries in the United States and throughout the world.

As part of this commitment, House Resolution 1022, “Reducing Maternal Mortality Both at Home and Abroad,” is expected to be voted on by Congress. House Resolution 1022 was initiated by Congresswoman Capps and the other delegation members as a first step in a longer road toward new policies and more resources from the U.S. government. It is a “trial balloon” to build support on both sides of the aisle for a larger strategy that will eventually include needed policy changes in foreign assistance programs and domestic health care along with more funding and resources. It currently has 121 co-sponsors. Globally, other donor governments, the United Nations and NGOs are targeting the 35 countries with the highest maternal death rates – including Afghanistan, Haiti, Kenya, Nepal, Rwanda and other “hot spots” as well as those facing serious food and water challenges.

These are part of a strategy to move forward a broader agenda around women’s reproductive health by cultivating congressional support for issues with the biggest common denominator – women dying in childbirth and facing the horrors of obstetric fistula – by building bipartisan support on issues that have been stalled for the past two decades.

On TUESDAY, MAY 20, there were two special events:

• UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador and Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and CARE Ambassador and Supermodel Christy Turlington Burns joined Congressional Women Leaders and Fistula Survivors and Advocates to rally for maternal health and bolster support for H.R. 1022. The rally included Congresswomen Lois Capps (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) and Jackie Speier (D-CA).
  • 1pm, Terrace, Cannon Office Building
    
• At a “hearing-style” briefing on Capitol Hill, two fistula survivors turned advocates, Sarah Omega Kindangasi from Kenya and Caroline Ditina from the Democratic Republic of Congo, shared their first-hand stories and experiences. Sarah and Caroline will be accompanied by their doctors, Dr. Merry Jennpher Othigo and Dr. Delores Nembunzu.
  • 3 to 4:30 p.m., U.S. Capitol, HC-5

Over the next 12-18 months, this global movement will continue to grow as women’s rights leaders and advocates around the world unite to advocate for improved maternal health services globally. 

Awareness of the issue is spreading around the world, through various means:

• A Walk to Beautiful is an award-winning feature-length documentary that tells the stories of five Ethiopian women who suffer from devastating childbirth injuries and embark on a journey to reclaim their lost dignity. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. They make the choice to take the long and arduous journey to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in search of a cure and a new life.
• The Campaign to End Fistula and the Fistula Foundation were recently featured on the PBS series NOVA in a documentary, A Walk to Beautiful. The program that featured the personal stories of the successes and challenges of fistulas survivors reached millions of viewers.
• Women Deliver, a coalition of groups headed by Family Care International and including World Health Organization, UNFPA, UNICEF, CARE, Save the Children and others, is working on achieving the Millennium Development Goals with an emphasis on MDG 5 – reducing maternal mortality rate by three quarters by 2015.
• The White Ribbon Alliance is an international coalition of individuals and organizations formed to promote increased public awareness of the need to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for all women and newborns in the world. It has launched a global campaign, A Promise to Mothers Lost. As part of the campaign, Stories of Mothers Lost is a stunning collection of fabric panels created by men and women to honor the lives of loved ones needlessly lost in 19 countries, from Afghanistan to Uganda and Bangladesh to Burkina Faso, India and Tanzania. This exhibition is traveling around the world including a recent exhibit in Washington, D.C.
• UbuMama and Teaming Up have partnered in a project dedicated to improving maternal health, specifically in developing countries, by establishing sustainable partnerships between college athletic teams and women at high risk of dying in childbirth. They aim to raise awareness and funding for grassroots education and community action on behalf of safe motherhood.
• One By One contributes to the elimination of obstetric fistula worldwide by engaging the public and providing financial support to those who treat and prevent fistula in the developing world.
• Global Giving has numerous projects and proposals to improve maternal health.
• These are just a handful of projects that are working to prevent the needless deaths and suffering related to pregnancy and child birth.

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