Please help prevent childbirth from killing Tibetan mothers and babies.
We have heard from our in-country partner that nomadic communities in eastern Tibet are facing a deadly maternal health crisis.
What should be a joyous discovery – for a woman to be pregnant – is instead a source of extreme anxiety for the whole family because giving birth in Tibet far too often proves fatal for mother or baby.
The death rate for Tibetan mothers is eight times higher than in neighbouring China. And the cause of the overwhelming majority of life-threatening birth complications is bleeding, because there is such a high prevalence of anaemia in Tibet.
In many instances, it is simply not possible to get to a hospital in time. Or the family doesn’t have the money to pay for the journey, which could take several days.
But there is hope. Together with our project partner, we have formulated a practical solution to help prevent these needless deaths and make childbirth safer. We just need your help to make it happen.
Our solution is simple: to provide blood tests for mothers as soon as they know they are pregnant. That way we have the time to provide treatment to get a mother’s blood haemoglobin level up, and plan to give her the best chance of a safe birth.
We would also ideally like to provide dietary supplements (vegetables, fruit, meat, milk, butter and eggs) to those mothers who need them. Plus illustrated literature in Tibetan, sensitive to local people and culture, on how to stay healthy during pregnancy.
We have identified a group of mothers who are in urgent need of this support and a gift from you today could help provide it. Whatever you are able to give will be greatly appreciated by the expectant mothers and their families in Tibet. Thank you.
