You can make a difference this festive season
As the festive season approaches, we look forward to celebrating with our families and friends; sharing a meal together and reflecting on the blessings of the past year.
But families elsewhere in the world might not have as much to be thankful for. This Christmas, we are sharing the stories of two young women from Ethiopia.
Jittu and Kedida1 both live in rural villages. Their lives have been very similar and they shared a dream of motherhood.
But when the time came to give birth, there was one crucial difference between the two mothers-to-be.
Two mothers, one heartbreaking difference
Kedida and her beautiful baby daughter returned home happy and healthy after receiving skilled midwifery care from Hamlin midwife, Gadissie.
Jittu delivered a stillborn baby and sustained a devastating obstetric fistula injury and incontinence. She returned home in grief, shame and pain.
This is the difference one Hamlin midwife makes.
A Hamlin midwife is the difference between life and death. Every year, they save the lives of thousands of mothers and babies and prevent countless obstetric fistulas.
This Christmas, we are raising funds to train more Hamlin midwives. Because every mother deserves to give birth safely.
Your donation today will help train a Hamlin midwife to help another woman give birth safely and stop preventable childbirth injuries.
Jittu’s double tragedy could have been prevented
Jittu woke up in a hospital bed, alone, on soaking wet sheets. A nurse told her that, as well as losing her precious baby, she had sustained a devastating birth injury called an obstetric fistula..
Jittu’s pregnancy had progressed smoothly. But after two agonising days in obstructed labour, she made the long and difficult journey to find help to deliver her baby.
When she arrived on foot at the nearest health clinic in Risko, Jittu was turned away. Nobody there had the midwifery skills to help her. Jittu was transported to a nearby rural hospital by ambulance. But it was too late to save her baby or prevent an obstetric fistula injury from occurring.
Jittu returned home in despair with no baby to hold and care for. For over a year, she suffered from incontinence. She told us:
I rarely left my home and isolated myself. I also had pain in my leg that made it difficult to move around. I slept day and night. My husband and family hated me because of my condition.
Jittu
A Hamlin midwife is the difference between life and death.
This is the unimaginable situation faced by around 1,000 Ethiopian women like Jittu every year.
Without timely access to skilled midwifery care, too many women lose their babies. The resulting childbirth injuries can devastate their lives for years and even decades.
Your donation this Christmas could help the next woman like Jittu give birth safely. Care from a trained midwife could have saved Jittu’s baby and prevented her obstetric fistula.
Please make a donation today to help recruit, train and place more Hamlin midwives across Ethiopia.
- Patient names have been changed to protect the privacy of the women we serve ↩︎
