Our Progress

Every Mother Counts has a small portfolio of grants that address various barriers to care in several locations. We are committed to providing regular updates on these projects below. 

Commonsense Childbirth

Barriers Being Addressed: Lack of access to prenatal care and education
Grant Period: May 2013-ongoing
Grant Amount: $63,000

Project Description:
Despite spending more on healthcare per capita than any other country, the U.S. ranks 50^th in the world for maternal mortality – the worst of any industrialized nation. Low-income women are most at risk for poor maternal health outcomes in the U.S. Access to prenatal education and care are crucial for reducing this disparity as women who do not receive prenatal care are three to four times more likely to die than women who do. Prenatal education has been found to be an effective and critical element of prenatal care, particularly for low-income women. The high cost of healthcare, limited number of providers that will serve low-income patients, bureaucratic hurdles and delays, combined with often untreated pre-existing medical conditions put many low-income women at risk of not receiving the comprehensive care they need.

To ensure that more women have access to comprehensive quality care and options, EMC is supporting Commonsense Childbirth in central Florida to provide low-income women – no matter their insurance status or ability to pay – with the recommended number of prenatal care visits, and prenatal education on nutrition, healthy pregnancy, breastfeeding, and newborn care. Commonsense Childbirth’s simple yet effective model demonstrates that access to respectful quality care, complemented by education and social support, and a focus on individual empowerment, yields positive results for moms and babies.

Updates: Check back monthly for more!

• May 13, 2013: Announcing our First U.S. Grant 
• May 10, 2013: The Huffington Post Photo Essay

Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation Uganda

Barriers Being Addressed: Distance to a health facility and lack of transportation
Grant Period: September 2012-ongoing
Grant Amount: $41,146 

Project Description:
Every Mother Counts has partnered with Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Uganda (Baylor Uganda) to provide 13,500 women with vouchers they can redeem for a ride to a health facility when they go into labor so that they can deliver safely and receive emergency obstetric or newborn care if needed. Most women in Uganda deliver their babies at home, without a skilled birth attendant. The far distance to a health facility and a lack of transportation prevent many women from giving birth safely with assistance in an equipped health facility. This investment also supports the goals of the Saving Mothers, Giving Life initiative in Uganda, of which EMC is a founding partner.

Watch the video below to learn how the transportation vouchers work.  

Updates:  

• May 16, 2013: Immaculate's Transportation Voucher 
  March 2, 2013: Esther shows us what a difference the voucher has made for her pregnancy and deliver.
• January 24, 2013: The Final Talley on the Mozilla Firefox Challange - What's in a Mama Kit? 
  November 12, 2012: Erin, Tonight in Kampala 
  November 1, 2012: Our Baylor-Uganda Grant for transportation gets personal. 
• December 6, 2013: Dr. Addy talks about Christmas in Uganda and what the holidays are like in American hospitals.
• October 25, 2012: Every Mother Counts awards Inagural Grants to Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation. 

Mama Kits

Fundraiser: $17,152 for 780 mama kits for Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation in Uganda, raised through Crowdrise’s Mozilla Firefox Challenge (December 2012).  Click here to learn more about the Crowdrise Challenge Update - Mama Kits. 

Project Description:
Women who give birth at a public facility in developing countries are often expected to provide their own basic medical supplies. Baylor Uganda provides each mother with a "mama kit" to aid in safe delivery, and also incentivize mothers to come to a clinic or hospital to give birth. This small kit costs $22, and includes basic supplies to help a woman delivery safely (soap, cotton and gauze, plastic sheet (for labor), bed sheets, disposable and surgical gloves, surgical blade, cord ligatures, tetracycline eye ointment, child health card, polythene bag to hold medical records, and a baby blanket). In 2012 EMC raised funds through Crowdrise’s Mozilla Firefox Challenge and provided Baylor Uganda with 780 mama kits.

Midwives for Haiti

Barriers Being Addressed: Lack of skilled birth attendants
Grant Period: October 2012-ongoing
Grant Amount: $54,000

Project Description:
Every Mother Counts and Midwives for Haiti have teamed up to increase the number of skilled birth attendants available to assist pregnant women in Haiti. Haiti suffers from a shortage of physicians, midwives, and skilled attendants, and Haiti's maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 350 is the highest in the western hemisphere. Midwives are far less expensive to recruit, train and maintain than doctors, and are often more likely to be accepted and trusted by the communities they serve. The 2010 earthquake destroyed the main training hospital serving Haiti’s only midwifery school in Port-au-Prince. EMC's grant supports the training of 15 midwives, including their room and board, supplies, and one-year's salary. Each midwife will in this year provide prenatal care to nearly 1,500 women and deliver between 120 and 240 babies. 

 Watch the "Making of a Midwife" - first in the series of short films of this year's training. 

Updates:

• April 29, 2013: Christy and Clancy go to Haiti Day 4 
  April 27, 2013: Christy and Clancy go to Haiti Day 3
  April 26, 2013: Christy and Clancy go to Haiti Day 2
  April 25, 2013: Christy and Clancy go to Haiti Day 1
• April 3, 2013:  March update from Midwives for Haiti student, Vesline 
  February 20, 2013: This month's update from Genette, one of Midwives for Haiti's instructors
• February 8, 2013: Volunteering in Haiti for Midwives for Haiti - Game Day
• January 23, 2013: Clancy and Jessica go to Haiti: Day 4 - Our Last Day
• January 18, 2013: Clancy and Jessica go to Haiti: Day 3 - Monday
• January 17, 2013: Clancy and Jessica go to Haiti: Day 2 -Sunday
• January 14, 2013: Clancy and Jessica go to Haiti: Day 1
• December 17, 2012: Holidays in Haiti - Cassandra
• October 25, 2012: EMC Partners with Midwives for Haiti

Bumi Sehat

Fundraiser: $17,062 for new clinic raised through Crowdrise’s Mozilla Firefox Challenge (December 2011) 

Project Description:
In 2011 through the Mozilla Firefox Challenge on Crowdrise, EMC was able to raise $17,062 to support Robin Lim, a 2012 CNN Person of the Year, her Bali, Indonesia based organization Bumi Sehat in ensuring that mothers and newborns receive the quality health care they deserve. In 2012, Bumi Sehat, at just two locations, provided over 50,050 with community health services, emergency care, prenatal, postpartum, and pediatric care, birth services and breastfeeding support, in addition to education and environmental programs. In 2012, Bumi Sehat midwives delivered 587 babies, conducted 6,638 pre-natal check-ups, and 1,149 postpartum visits with breastfeeding support, and 600 pediatric care visits. 

Thanks to your support in the Firefox Challenge, the funds will help Bumi Sehat construct a new, solar-powered, community health clinic in Nyuh Kuning, Bali, Indonesia. The clinic will feature a birth center and around-the-clock full maternal, child and family health care.

Updates: 

• March 14, 2013: Touched by HIV/AIDS: When Healthcare Workers are Exposed 
• March 12, 2013: Why National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Matters to Maternal Health 
  January 30, 2012: Tales from the Field: Sanur
  January 13, 2012: Thank you for supporting EMC in the Mozilla Firefox Crowdrise Challange
• December 12, 2011: My Hero, Ibu Robin Lim 

Doc2Doc

Barriers Being Addressed: Lack of equipment and supplies
Grant Period: May 2012
Grant Amount: $12,000 

Project Description:

Doc2Doc works to collect and redistribute unused medical equipment and supplies to hospitals in developing countries. U.S. hospitals waste thousands of tons of medical supplies every day, including unused, sterile medical supplies and fully functional equipment discarded because of  regulatory requirements. The shipping costs to ship the supplies to remote locations can be high, so in 2012, EMC raised funds to help send a shipment to a public hospital in Yei, in the newly-independent South Sudan. The container contained more than $500,000 worth of supplies and equipment, including basic critical items such as sterile gloves and gauze as well as birthing tables, ultrasounds for safe delivery and prenatal care, surgical supplies and sterilization equipment. The arrival of the container in November in Yei was met with a citywide celebration. This baby was delivered safely with the use of the new equipment.