By Development Team | Friends of UNFPA
In the Dominican Republic, while Lucía García’s husband is away planting peanuts, she feeds the children in their simple, clay-floored house. At 19 years old, she is already pregnant with her third child. The family struggles to get by on an income of less than three dollars per day.
Lucía García’s experience is not unique, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has only deepened poverty and disrupted health services in the Dominican Republic. However, with your support, UNFPA is there, and despite these challenges, Ms. García says she feels more prepared for childbirth, and better supported, than she did before.
Your gift helped UNFPA, in partnership with local organizations, launch the ‘Champion Mothers’ program during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Dominican Republic. Pregnant women can now use free motorcycle ambulances to make the journey to a maternal health clinic - removing barriers to women accessing lifesaving care. “This project seeks to prevent and reduce maternal mortality” explained Dulce, a reproductive health officer with UNFPA.
In addition to providing a fleet of six motorcycle ambulances, the Champion Mothers program has also trained more than 100 health personnel and technicians, and it has equipped 10 primary care centers with new medical equipment.
A gift of $20 equips a midwife with the supplies needed to help a woman give birth safely, no matter the circumstances.
We know that women and girls have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, through our support of programs like Champion Mothers, we can re-build health care systems and ensure no pregnant woman, young girl or newborn is left without the care they need.
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