99% of maternal deaths occur in developing countries. On average, around 800 women die from pregnancy – or childbirth-related complications around the world every day. Most such deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in remote rural areas.

The risk of maternal death is highest for adolescent girls under the age of 15. Further, if a mother dies, then any orphaned children are ten times as likely to die before reaching the age of five.

Many women in Sub-Saharan Africa suffer from birth-related injuries, such as obstetric fistula, with around two million women living with fistula injuries sustained because they could not reach help in time.

Barbara May Foundation (www.barbaramayfoundation.com) provides access to safe maternal healthcare for such vulnerable women and girls at four hospitals in Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Sudan and, soon, a fifth, new one in Uganda and a sixth, new one in Tanzania. Our goal is to operate ten hospitals over the next few years.

- Founder Dr Andrew Browning and his teams run fistula outreach ‘camps’ in many African countries to relieve some women of such terrible burdens.

- In the Afar Region of northern Ethiopia, we championed an education program to reduce the traditional practice of Female Genital Mutilation.

- In Tanzania, we design and deliver bespoke training programmes for external midwives to develop the skills, knowledge, experience, competence and confidence to make childbirth safe. Our teams in Tanzania also run an adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights training and education programme, teaching young people how to make better, more informed decisions and lifestyle choices.

You can help our partner, Barbara May Foundation achieve even more for even more of the most vulnerable and marginalized women of Sub-Saharan Africa.