ACTION: Become a Shanti Uganda Birth Partner. Why and how below.

As a mother who has given birth twice I feel a strong, overwhelming kinship with women all over the world who have or will also give birth even if I don’t know them nor will I ever. That global kinship makes me work harder to learn more about maternal health in developing countries and do what I can to improve the lives of women who face harrowing challenges to give birth.

Our partner, Shanti Uganda, is doing amazing things for expecting mothers in rural Uganda. For two years Shanti Uganda has provided antenatal and postnatal health care for poor women in the Luwero District of Uganda in the solar-powered Shanti Uganda Birth House. Without the help Shanti Uganda provides local women would have to deliver their babies at home or try to find their way to the closest health facility which could be several miles away. To date, 100 women have given birth at the Shanti Uganda birth house and 100%  of those women have walked out healthy and alive. In a country where 1 in 16 women die giving birth this is a phenomenal feat.

Not only is Shanti Uganda providing a safe, empowering environment for women to give birth,
but we are defying these statistics and creating a new norm for birthing women in Uganda. Of the over
100 women who have given birth at our centre in our almost two years of operation, 100% have left
healthy, happy and supported by our dedicated team of midwives.

– Shanti Uganda’s Founder & Executive Director Natalie Angell-Besseling

Today I am joining Shanti Uganda to blog for better birth outcomes; to spread the word about what we can all do to help reduce the high maternal mortality rates women in developing countries face.

One of the things you can do to help right now is become a Shanti Uganda Birth Partner. As a birth partner your donation helps fund births. You are touching real lives of expecting mothers and their babies. $100 a month supports the births of two babies. If that donation is too steep, $25 a month helps fund the birth of one baby every two months.

When you become a birth partner during the Birth Partner Push you will receive a necklace made from the women in the Shanti Uganda Women’s Income Generating Group. These paper bead necklaces are stunning. How do I know? Because I wear mine almost every day.

Help save the lives of mothers and babies. US dollars go a long way in Africa. A simple $25 donation will deliver one baby in two months. Become a Shanti Uganda Birth Partner!