Link Roundup: International Edition

Amnesty International
Science and Sensibility does a focus on some information on maternal mortality from Amnesty International, presenting some truly shocking statistics. Here are a few:

49: The number of countries that have lower maternal mortality ratios than the US.  Women in the US are more likely to die of pregnancy related complications than in 49 other countries, including nearly all European countries, Canada and several countries in Asia and the Middle East.
3 to 4x: African-American women are 3 to 4 times as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white women.
2x: Women living in low-income areas across the US were 2 times as likely to suffer a maternal death as women in high income areas
1,000: The number of women around the world who die every day from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. That’s over 350,000 women every year – one woman every 90 seconds.  The vast majority of these deaths are preventable.

Every Mother Counts    
Every Mother Counts is an advocacy and mobilization campaign to increase education and support for maternal and child health. Model Christy Turlington has created a film called No Woman No Cry - powerful stories of at-risk pregnant women in four parts of the world, including a remote Maasai tribe in Tanzania, a slum of Bangladesh, a post-abortion care ward in Guatemala, and a prenatal clinic in the United States.

The organization also takes donations of cell phones to medical clinics in the Democratic Republic of Congo to help save mothers' lives. Donate Your Phones to Hope Phones Today.

  

Birth Around the World: Midwifery in Tanzania
from Rixa at Stand and Deliver

    

Gifts from God: Childbirth and Postpartum Care in Islam 

 

Postpartum Care Considerations in Muslim Communities: Part II of theInterview with Hajara Kutty 

A two-part series from Science and Sensibility on Childbirth and Postpartum Care among Muslim Women

Throughout Time, Throughout the World: Baby Wearing
Bellies and Babies blog posted a great post full of history and photos of women wearing their babies as they went about their lives in cultures and countries all over the world.

"In 1733, William Kent invented a wheeled baby transportation device. In the 1830's, they were brought to America, but it wasn't until the mid 1800's that 'prams' truly became popular."

"But, it wasn't until 1985, when William and Martha Sears began baby wearing their youngest, that baby wearing began to truly gain recognition in the United States. Coincidentally, the Sears' also coined the term “babywearing”.