Caritas Australia is calling on the community to support its Women for the World appeal today which has a special focus on maternal health in Bangladesh.
Today is the first-ever Safer Births Giving Day hosted by Caritas Australia and it includes matched giving, with the first $50,000 in donations to be dollar matched. This means every dollar you donate gets doubled thanks to the support of a generous philanthropic donor.
All funds raised will go towards training rural midwives and provide life-saving delivery kits to rural communities in Bangladesh where medical care is scarce.
In Bangladesh, a mother loses her baby every eight minutes during childbirth. But in villages where the midwife program operates, not a single baby has died.
One of the program’s graduates, Pronali, is now a trained midwife who has safely delivered 68 babies in her community. Her journey from a mother who experienced birthing difficulties herself to a life-saving health worker is a testament to the power of community-led development.
“There is no clinic in our village,” Pronali says. “Now, pregnant women come to me for health checkups and home delivery. I feel proud to serve my community.”
Kirsten Sayers, CEO of Caritas Australia said of the appeal, “At Caritas Australia, we believe that when you uplift a woman, you uplift an entire community. Pronali is a shining example of this in action. Her drive to learn and become a leader in her community has played a pivotal role in ensuring a time of great joy, the birth of a child, does not become a time of great sorrow.”
“By supporting this appeal, you can join our mission to build a future where every woman, everywhere, can live with dignity, safety, and opportunity.”
To support Caritas Australia's Safer Births Giving Day, visit http://caritas.org.au/giving-day or call 1800 024 413 toll free.
ENDS
Media contact: Tara Harvey 0484 002 021 tara.harvey@caritas.org.au or caritasmedia@caritas.org.au
