For almost seven years in the 1980s, I lived on Mali’s Dogon Plateau. I was a Peace Corps volunteer focused on primary health care and spent most of my time with women. I learned about their joys, sorrows, dreams, struggles and, surprisingly, their great fear of childbirth.
Preventable childhood diseases are a major national health concern throughout Pakistan, where just slightly more than half of all children are fully immunized. Nowhere is the occurrence of measles, pneumonia and hepatitis B—to name just a few of the common illnesses—more glaring than in remote villages.
Lunch would have to wait.
Midwife Pauline Mukabasinga was just about ready to enjoy her midday meal on Monday, February 6, when a nurse she worked with at Kabarore Health Center called for her assistance. It was urgent.
Every day 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Helena’s story shows us it doesn’t have to be this way.
