COVIDaction innovators: Safe Motherhood Alliance
COVIDaction Team
March 11, 2021
COVIDaction Innovator Profile: Muzalema Mwanza, Founder, Safe Motherhood Alliance, Zambia. This video has a musical soundtrack but no voice narration so subtitles are not showing.
Transcript of video:
When I was a first time mother, I was consumed with anxiety and fear when I saw that lack of access to sterile materials was leading many mothers to give birth at home using whatever materials they have on hand - from rusty blades and knives to plastic bags for gloves. We also find traditional birthing assistants severing umbilical cords with rusty blades, infecting babies with tetanus, or HIV. Globally, an estimated 100 million women give birth alone or with the help of an untrained traditional birth attendant. Of this number over 800 pregnant women die each day from complications in pregnancy and childbirth. The culturally specific knowledge we gather through our work can be used to guide policymakers and help planners in the future development of Safe Motherhood initiatives in all developing countries.