“Honouring Our Mothers” is about Saving Lives and Dignity: A Journey of Transformation from Ignorance and Poverty to Education and Empowerment

Mothers are at the heart of society. When a mother dies during or after childbirth, her young child is ten times more likely to also die in developing countries around the world. The surviving children are often taken out of school, sent out to work or end up on the streets with no one to care for them.

Muslim Charity’s “Honouring Our Mothers” campaign is all about raising awareness and funds to help in saving the lives of every mother and child in countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Somalia, Yemen and some of the poorest regions in the world.

During our “Honouring Our Mothers” campaign in 2013, the generous support and contributions from donors helped us to save the lives of over 25,000 mothers and children in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Lebanon and India.

Babies that are born to poor mothers in rural areas face great challenges in order to survive. While many countries have achieved some success in increasing the numbers of mothers who give birth in healthcare facilities, many poor women in rural areas still give birth at home, without any contact with the health system. Muslim Charity helps in educating poor mothers through mobilising and supporting efforts to bring these mothers in contact with maternal health systems.

Somalia, a country in East Africa, is characterised by civil war, recurrent drought, vast rural populations, and food insecurity. Nomadic lifestyles and pastoralism coupled with a sizeable refugee population and constant political instability and security has created many challenges that have resulted in disproportionate health and socioeconomic disparities. Muslim Charity supports efforts to reach out to these hard-to-reach nomadic communities in some regions of Somalia through mobile maternal health services.

Every mother and newborn child must have access to high-impact care that will save their lives. Midwives, nurses and community health workers need training, supplies and appropriate facilities to prevent and respond to complications arising out of preterm births. For example, it should be a routine, as it is in rich countries, to provide consultation and necessary vaccination to mothers during pregnancy and at the time of delivery. In Pakistan alone, many women give birth at home, and in a large majority of these cases, without the assistance of a trained birth attendant. Midwives and all birth attendants need training to help newborn babies survive the “golden minute” – that first moment after birth when, if a baby is not breathing appropriately, a simple intervention can save her life.

Ambulances play a vital role – not just because they help in saving lives – but also because they create the physical link between the hospital and especially mothers and babies when time matters. In East African countries, an ambulance service is a basic tool of most hospitals, it is expensive to operate and as a result it is rare to find a functioning service at rural hospitals not just in Somalia but across Africa.

Pakistan has relatively the worse neonatal and maternal health indicators than its neighbouring countries in South Asia. Over 200,000 newborns die each year which represents 58% of the total under 5 child deaths in the country. The majority of mothers in the country (74%) living in rural areas deliver at home and the risk of neonatal death is more marked in rural areas compared to urban settings.

When a baby is born prematurely, especially if born before 32 weeks of pregnancy, it is critically important that the baby is placed in an incubator to provide a safe and stable environment. In the absence of such a safe environment the premature baby could either die or face a lifetime of disability, including learning disabilities and visual and hearing problems.

Over 60% of premature births in the world occur in Africa and South Asia and the countries where Muslim Charity provides incubators to hospitals are amongst the countries which have the highest pre-term birth rates in the world such as Pakistan, India, Yemen, Somalia and Bangladesh.

The birth of a child should be a time of joy and celebration. But for millions of mothers and babies in developing countries, it is a dance with death. Every year, nearly 3 million babies die within the first month of life, most from preventable causes. More than a third of these babies die on their first day of life – making the day of the birth the riskiest day for newborns and mothers almost everywhere.

Please continue your support in helping Muslim Charity by honouring mothers and to-be mothers around the world and saving every mother and child.

Your donations can help us save lives:

• £150 – Safe delivery of a newborn
• £300 – Fistula surgery treatment
• £1,000 – Midwifery Kit (for skilled birth attendants in rural areas)
• £2,500 – Incubator (for maternity hospitals)
• £10,000 – Ambulance (fully equipped)
• £10,000 – Ultra-Sound Machine (for maternity hospitals)