From Crisis to Care
29th November 2024
Rebuilding maternal health services Our partner Wings of Healing are working to restore maternal and child health services after the conflict devastated hospitals and health
Many births in Ethiopia occur outside healthcare facilities, without the assistance of trained midwives.
Important progress is being made to improve maternal healthcare across the country, however maternal mortality rates are still high and too many mothers still die every year in childbirth or during pregnancy.
Without trained medical assistance, women are more likely to sustain childbirth injuries, such as obstetric fistula.
We believe every woman should be able to access the support of a trained midwife, and have choices in childbirth.
During the month of May, we celebrate the incredible work of all our maternal health partners.
By improving access to maternal health services, our partners are saving the lives of mothers and babies, preventing the childbirth injuries that are so prevalent with prolonged unassisted labour and offering women choices in childbirth.
Through their projects, they are:
Rebuilding maternal health services Our partner Wings of Healing are working to restore maternal and child health services after the conflict devastated hospitals and health
Obstetric fistula: a story heard all too often Alemnesh was married as a child at the age of just 14 and fell pregnant for the
Atsede Clinic’s ‘Midwives on the Move’ project provides home visits to pregnant women living in the mountainous terrain of the Gurage Zone. Many of the women they work with either aren’t able to travel to health facilities for antenatal appointments, or do not think they are important enough. Alongside the antenatal, delivery and postnatal care they provide, they are working to change attitudes in communities, emphasising the importance of maternal health care and empowering women to make informed decisions about their own health. Atsede’s Maternity Clinic was founded by 2019 International Midwife of the Year, Atsede Kidane, and British midwife Indie McDowell.
Hope of Light provides obstetric fistula treatment at 3 Fistula Centres in Gondar, Jimma and Assela. The organisation was founded by Dr Ambaye WoldeMichael, a renowned fistula surgeon, who was originally trained by Dr Catherine Hamlin. HOL supplies medical supplies for fistula care, trains doctors in fistula surgery, raises awareness of fistula with health professionals and her team provides care and support for the women they treat through pre- and post-operative counselling.
Wings of Healing are providing vital medical care by re-equipping health centres damaged in conflict, restoring Maternal and Child Health Services, and running emergency medical clinics in camps for displaced people. They are also treating pregnant women, new mothers and children who are living in displacement camps and have acute malnutrition.
Watch our animation to discover more about the impact of our maternal health partners’ work…
We raise funds for local Ethiopian charities to transform lives and achieve lasting change.
Our partners know the context and solutions; we listen and provide appropriate support. Growth and development are tracked in local communities using robust monitoring and evaluation. Partnerships continue as long as there’s a clear need and opportunities to make a lasting impact.
Our vision – an Ethiopia in which every person has access to quality education, healthcare and a life of dignity.
Our mission – breaking the cycle of poverty by enabling the poorest and most vulnerable and their communities to live with dignity, to build resilience and achieve real and sustainable solutions to the challenges they face.
