Show Your Support for Healthy Pregnancies & Safe Births: #BumpDay, July 21

Join International Medical Corps and What to Expect in raising awareness about maternal health needs worldwide.

All moms deserve a healthy pregnancy and a safe birth. Yet hundreds of women around the world die each day from preventable complications of pregnancy, just because they don’t have access to adequate maternal healthcare.

On #BumpDay, July 21, we’re asking everyone who cares about equitable access to maternal healthcare to join International Medical Corps and What to Expect in celebrating #BumpDay—a day to raise awareness about maternal health needs worldwide—by sharing a baby-bump photo (past or present, your bump or a bump you love) with #BumpDay.

International Medical Corps works with communities and local health authorities to improve the health of women by offering safe motherhood services that include pre-natal care, safe delivery by skilled birth attendants, quality care for obstetric and newborn emergencies, post-natal care and family planning that stresses healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. Find out more here.

Seventeen-year-old Hawa had been in labor for three days, and she still hadn’t given birth.

Hawa is from Golo, a rural area located in Darfur—a region in western Sudan that is home to one of the world’s longest-running humanitarian crises.

Darfur has the highest levels of maternal mortality in Sudan, so the birthing process is far from safe for young mothers like Hawa. Faced with limited capacities to provide emergency obstetrics services such as caesarean sections, and an alarming shortage of skilled birth attendants, Hawa was at risk of becoming one of the many women around the world who die in childbirth every day from mostly preventable causes.

International Medical Corps is the only primary healthcare provider throughout much of the Darfur region, and a lifeline to rural communities such as Golo.

To alleviate an acute shortage of emergency obstetrics—a set of essential medical services for mothers and their babies—International Medical Corps set up an operating theater in Golo Hospital in 2018. Now, doctors can perform unplanned caesareans and other reproductive surgeries. Despite being integral to safe motherhood, these and similar services remain an out-of-reach luxury for most women living in Darfur.

After Hawa arrived at the hospital, a medical team diagnosed her as being in obstructed labor—a complication that occurs when the baby is physically blocked—and carried out an emergency caesarean section, saving her and the baby’s life.

Most maternal deaths occur in developing regions, with sub-Saharan Africa alone accounting for two-thirds of all deaths, according to the World Bank.

In 2020, only 64% of births in sub-Saharan Africa were attended by a trained midwife, doctor or nurse.

Every day, more than 800 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

94% of all maternal deaths occur in low- and lower middle-income countries.

In 2019, an estimated 2.4 million newborns died, mostly from preventable and treatable causes.

Lack of transportation to far-away health facilities can prevent women from receiving the medical treatment they need.

Between 2000 and 2017 (the most recent years with comprehensive data), the maternal mortality ratio dropped by 38% worldwide.

 

 

Tag us on social media!

Twitter: @IMC_Worldwide
Facebook: @InternationalMedicalCorps
Instagram: @internationalmedicalcorps

Post a baby-bump pic with #BumpDay! Here are some sample messages:

I’m posting my #BumpDay pic to help @InternationalMedicalCorps and @WhatToExpect raise awareness about maternal health needs worldwide!

I’m joining @InternationalMedicalCorps and @WhatToExpect on #BumpDay to say that every mom deserves a healthy pregnancy and a safe birth!

I’m joining @InternationalMedicalCorps and @WhatToExpect on #BumpDay to say that it’s unacceptable for hundreds of women to die each day from preventable complications of pregnancy! #BumpDay

Spread the word by sharing info about global maternal health! Here are some sample messages:

More than 800 women die each day from preventable pregnancy complications. Visit internationalmedicalcorps.org/bumpday to see how you can help. #BumpDay

It’s unacceptable that hundreds of women die each day from preventable complications of pregnancy. On #BumpDay, visit internationalmedicalcorps.org/bumpday to see how @InternationalMedicalCorps is supporting maternal health.