Merlin joins charities and celebrities to fight maternal deaths

Merlin, celebrities and other charities have issued a letter to world leaders drawing attention to the more than 300,000 women who die giving birth every year.

With 99 per cent of these deaths occurring in developing countries and one-third occurring in crisis countries, women around the world are demanding urgent action.

The letter, being sent ahead of the G8 Summit later this month, has been signed by celebrities such as Dame Judi Dench and Naomi Campbell, and charitable organisations including The White Ribbon Alliance, to stop these often preventable maternal deaths and call for a resolute commitment to:

1. Double international aid for maternal, newborn and child health
2. Recruit, train and deploy additional skilled health workers to fill the shortfall of 2.5 million health professionals and one million community health workers
3. Remove barriers of access to health care, with services for women and children being free at the point of use where countries choose to provide it

If these requests are met, the lives of approximately one million children and 300,000 women could be saved.

The call to action comes just a week after UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced he would strive to tackle the shocking number of maternal deaths by allocating a £5 million fund that will facilitate the sharing of skills between British midwives and health workers, and those in developing countries. Stopping preventable deaths in childbirth is vital if the United Nations Millennium Development Goals on Maternal and Child Health are to be achieved by 2015.

The need for action against maternal deaths is being highlighted at the international Women Deliver conference this week where Merlin has two representatives attending. Dr Kylea Liese, Merlin’s Maternal Health Consultant, and Jawara Saidykhan, Merlin’s Maternal Health Advisor, are at the conference in Washington, discussing Merlin’s maternal health programmes and rallying support to help recruit and train local midwives in order to save more mothers and children.

We invite you to join Merlin’s campaign by raising your hand for a health worker. By doing so you’ll be signing a petition which will be presented to world leaders at the UN in September.

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