Make Motherhood Safe for Tanzanian Women

Using stories to build on success.

Your generous support over the last 5 years has empowered our sister organization in Tanzania, CCBRT, to provide training, on-the-job mentoring, critical equipment and supplies to 23 public healthcare facilities in Dar es Salaam, improving the quality of care available to expectant mothers and their newborns. Recent reports have shown incredible progress. Since 2012 our partner sites have reported:

• A 40% decrease in the maternal mortality ratio.
• A 14% reduction in the stillbirth rate.
• A 19% increase in the premature baby survival rate.

Today, mothers and babies in the Dar es Salaam region face a brighter future, and it’s thanks to you.

The data above shows that we’re moving in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go. Thousands of mothers and newborns still die during pregnancy or childbirth each year, due to a lack of access to high quality care, and for every woman that dies, 20 more will develop an injury, infection or debilitating disability like obstetric fistula.

On International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, we reflected on how we can continue to mobilize the support we need for programs working to treat and prevent obstetric fistula while meeting our responsibilities as global storytellers. How do we, as fundraisers, clinicians and global health advocates tell compelling stories without jeopardizing the privacy or dignity of the people we serve?

We reflect on this important issue in more detail in our latest blog post. Click here to hear the perspectives of our friends at Fistula Foundation, Johnson & Johnson and EngenderHealth. On International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, we also convened the #HerWords Twitter chat in partnership with CCBRT, Johnson & Johnson and Fistula Foundation. Check out the highlights from the conversation here on our Storify.